99 pages • 3 hours read
Andrew ClementsThe School Story
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “The Chosen Grown-Up”
Ms. Laura Clayton is in her second year of teaching. She is perpetually exhausted and overworked. She tells herself she loves her job, but it’s hard when she faces her difficult sixth graders after lunch during her energy lull. She was never prepared for the demands of classroom teaching. She puts emphasis on writing in her classes—a skill she believes is very important. As Natalie’s teacher, Ms. Clayton has noticed Natalie’s talent for writing.
During Ms. Clayton’s break period, Natalie and Zoe enter her classroom. Zoe does most of the talking while Natalie looks on quietly. Zoe explains that she and Natalie want to form a writing club. They want Ms. Clayton to be their advisor. Ms. Clayton is receptive to the idea because she knows Natalie’s writing is strong.
Ms. Clayton asks if the club will be open to all grades, but Zoe clarifies that it would just be Zoe, Natalie, and Ms. Clayton. Zoe explains that it’s more like a publishing club. She tells Ms. Clayton about Natalie’s novel and how they want to get it published. Ms. Clayton grows more perplexed as Zoe talks, but she goes along with the idea. She is about to turn the girls away when Zoe hands her a copy of Natalie’s work. The girls leave Ms. Clayton to read the book and consider their proposition.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Welcome to the Club”
Ms. Clayton spends the rest of her free time that afternoon reading Natalie’s book. Like Zoe, she also believes the book is really good. Natalie has woven in strong themes and characters. Ms. Clayton likes a particular passage, in which the main character Angela watches her father argue with the headmaster through a window. The father advocates for fair treatment of his daughter. The headmaster wants to make an example of Angela, but Angela’s father doesn’t back down. Ms. Clayton believes Natalie’s writing is powerful. She would buy the book for her own classroom if it were published.
The next morning, Natalie and Zoe greet Ms. Clayton at her classroom door. Ms. Clayton tells the girls she’s read the story and that someone will certainly want to publish it once it’s finished. Ms. Clayton offers to help the girls find publishers to mail the book to once it’s done, but Zoe explains that they’re already working on a plan for that. Natalie adds that she knows about the slush pile and doesn’t want her work to end up there.
Zoe tells about their plan to send the novel to Natalie’s mom under a pseudonym, with Zoe changing her name as well to represent Natalie as an agent. Ms. Clayton debates the logistics and legality of Zoe taking on a fake identity to help Natalie. To quiet Ms. Clayton’s concerns and ensure everything is legal, Zoe decides to leave Sherry Clutch Literary Agency as the name of her company but change her own fake name back to something closer to her real one. Zoe’s grandmother calls her “Zee Zee,” so she plans to go by Zee Zee Reisman. To avoid Natalie’s mother recognizing Zoe’s last name, she plans to pronounce it differently than her own but keep the spelling. This way Zoe isn’t creating a fake identity that could get her in legal trouble, but she will still be able to maintain the ruse.
Ms. Clayton cannot find anything wrong with Zoe’s new plan, so she agrees to help the girls and participate in their publishing club.
Chapter 12 Summary: “In or Out?”
Feeling revitalized by Ms. Clayton’s interest and involvement, Natalie works on finishing her book. She works for two hours every weekday and finishes it over the weekend. She only needed to write three more chapters. On Monday morning as they ride into the city, Natalie’s mom remarks that she has had a lot of homework lately. Natalie mentions she’s doing creative writing as well, but she keeps the purpose vague. Natalie’s mom asks that they spend some time together this coming weekend.
Natalie gives Ms. Clayton and Zoe the finished manuscript on Monday morning. On Tuesday morning, after having read the ending, both Zoe and Ms. Clayton agree that it’s perfect. Tuesday afternoon, when Ms. Clayton’s sixth grade class finishes, Zoe gives Ms. Clayton an envelope before leaving. The envelope contains five hundred dollars, money she has saved up over the years, to rent an office for a month so the literary agency seems legitimate. The office rental company sets clients up with a pager, a physical address, and a phone answering service. Ms. Clayton is skeptical and feels nervous about her involvement. She has a school attendant send Zoe back to her classroom. She tells Zoe she’s rethinking the plan and suggests Zoe get her parents involved instead. Zoe, a known smooth talker, says she doesn’t want her parents taking over the project. Zoe muses about getting another, cooler teacher, Mr. Karswell, to help them instead. Feeling backed into a corner and not wanting to be seen as a coward, Ms. Clayton agrees to the plan.
After work, Ms. Clayton goes to the office leasing agency and pays for one month’s rent from her own money. She doesn’t feel right using Zoe’s. She instead puts the exact cost of the office, $345.75, into an account for Zoe, so it will appear that she spent the money.
On the way home, she debates with herself whether this makes her fearless and bold or just along for the ride.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
Chapters 10 through 12 introduce a key character in Natalie and Zoe’s plan, Ms. Clayton, and explore her motivations and concerns regarding the girls’ plan. These chapters also build on the symbolism of Cassandra Day, the theme of Honesty Versus Deceit, the theme of The Power of Positive Thinking and Perseverance, and the way Natalie’s book acts as a motif for The Effects of Loss.
Chapter 10 introduces Laura Clayton, a sixth-grade English teacher at Natalie and Zoe’s school. Though Ms. Clayton has been teaching for two years, she is exhausted by “the daily grind of classroom teaching” (63). Still, Ms. Clayton has some bright students, one of whom is Natalie, who Ms. Clayton acknowledges is “a talented writer, easily better than any of her other students” (66). Ms. Clayton’s belief in Natalie is an important aspect of her decision to go along with the girls’ plan.
To ease Ms. Clayton into the plan, Zoe uses her speaking abilities and a little bit of deception at first. She and Natalie begin their appeal to Ms. Clayton by asking her to help them establish a club, which falls under normal duties for a sixth-grade teacher. However, Zoe’s twisted words soon unveil the truth, which is that the girls want Ms. Clayton to be involved in their plot to get Natalie’s book published. With the inclusion of an adult, the girls know they have a better chance at success. Zoe’s clever introduction, combined with Natalie’s strong writing, eventually ropes Ms. Clayton into the thick of it, which contributes to the theme of Honesty Versus Deceit by showing the benefits of a little deception.
In Chapter 11, Ms. Clayton reads what Natalie has completed so far and is impressed. She is particularly captivated by a passage that details how the main character’s father advocates for her. This scene in The Cheater shows the way Natalie looks up to her own father and is still working through her grief because of it, further solidifying the book as a motif for the theme The Effects of Loss. Later in the chapter, their honesty is called into question when Ms. Clayton questions the legality of Zoe’s fake name. Ms. Clayton acknowledges that it’s fine for Natalie to be Cassandra Day, but Zoe must use her real name to avoid legal troubles for the girls. To avoid being recognized by Natalie’s mom, Zoe comes up with Zee Zee Reisman for her agent name. Zee Zee Reisman is close enough to Zoe’s real name that Zoe can plausibly avoid trouble. This moment explores honesty versus deceit because it shows that Zoe must maintain some sense of the truth for the plan to proceed instead of going with the full deception of her original agent name, Sherry Clutch.
Chapter 12 revisits the symbolism of Cassandra Day, develops the theme of The Power of Positive Thinking and Perseverance, and explores Ms. Clayton’s character and motivations. Feeling good that an adult is now involved in their plan, Natalie’s motivation to work on finishing her book is renewed. Natalie “wrote for two hours every night, and then she worked all afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday” (80). Natalie’s confidence stemming from Ms. Clayton’s involvement helps her finish the book, showing how Cassandra Day is an extension of Natalie’s confidence.
However, Ms. Clayton becomes nervous about her involvement when she is given a large sum of money and instructions from Zoe on how she can help. Ms. Clayton feels she might be crossing a boundary by renting an office for Zoe and Natalie. However, Zoe demonstrates the power of perseverance and optimism by giving Ms. Clayton a pep talk. Zoe reassures Ms. Clayton, answering her question “Where will it end up? With Natalie’s book getting published, that’s where” (86) and explaining how she’s thought through her plan. Zoe’s determination and optimism help to convince Ms. Clayton to stay involved.
Another driving factor for Ms. Clayton is her own motivations. Ms. Clayton feels a sense of envy when she thinks about other teachers, like Mr. Karswell, who “had a reputation for being sort of a rebel” (88). Mr. Karswell’s popularity as a teacher and role model forces Ms. Clayton to examine her own role in her students’ lives. Ms. Clayton believes “If she backed out now, she would brand herself a coward” (88). After going through with the office rental, Ms. Clayton tells herself she’s “Ms. Clayton the Fearless, Ms. Clayton the Bold” (91) and feels comfortable with her role in helping the girls achieve their plan.
Chapters 10 through 12 drive the narrative along by bringing in Ms. Clayton and establishing an office through which the girls can conduct their business.
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By Andrew Clements
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