how many questions she needed to miss to get average scores. She did not care about her scores, but Stephen did. The tests were hard for him, and they put him under a lot of pressure. The pressure just made him do worse, and his low scores made him feel badly about himself. He started getting mad at himself when he had trouble understanding material in school, and he worried about all kinds of tests, even those in his best subjects. Other kids changed their attitudes at the same time Stephen did. They sorted themselves into the smart kids, the average kids, and the dumb kids. Nora could see that Stephen thought of himself as a dumb kid, and she did not think anyone deserved that label.

Now Nora and Stephen are in fifth grade, and this year’s grades determine who gets into advanced junior high classes. Nora can see that the pressure is getting terrible for Stephen. She knows it will only get worse unless she helps.

After thinking this through, Nora goes downstairs to a meal of steak and baked potatoes. Her parents always make a nice meal for report card day. After dinner, each kid opens up his or her report card and reads the grades out loud. Ann, now a junior in high school, goes first. She is an intense, hardworking student who takes honors and advanced placement classes. Her grades are all As and A pluses, except for an A minus in driver’s education, “but that won’t count in my class rank.” Nora’s parents are thrilled.

Todd, who is in eighth grade, reads his grades next. Unlike Ann and Nora, he does not find schoolwork easy. He works hard, though, because he knows how important grades are to his parents. He gets an assortment of As and Bs, including a B minus in English. Mom calls this report card “pretty good,” but she does not like the B minus. “I’d think you’d be a little disappointed with that,” she says. Dad agrees, reminding Todd that he is almost in high school. In Dad’s opinion, it is time for Todd to get busy and work hard for grades that will get him into a good college.

When it is Nora’s turn, she panics. She refuses to read her report card out loud, saying that fifth-grade grades are not important:

They’re all based on a bunch of stupid information that anybody with half a brain can memorize. Tests and grades and all of it—it’s all...just stupid.

Mom and Dad tell Nora that her grades are important. They promise they will not compare her to her brother or sister, but they say she must read her grades out loud. Nora refuses, and her father tells her she may not leave the table until she does what he says. Nora does not budge, and after several hours she falls asleep at the table.

All day the following Monday, teachers check up on Nora, making sure she understands her work. Nora observes that a bad grade for a kid is like a bad grade for the teacher, too. It makes people think teachers are not doing a good job.

After school, Nora gets called to the principal’s office. She tells herself it is not a big deal, but when she gets there she realizes it is. All of her teachers, the guidance counselor, the principal, and her parents are waiting for her. Everyone assures her that there is nothing to worry about, but Nora cannot help worrying. Mom starts the conversation by asking the teachers why she was not notified that Nora was getting such bad grades. The teachers all say that Nora was doing okay, with Cs in all of their classes, until her grades dropped at the end of the term. They decide that Nora should take some intelligence tests. At the end of the meeting, they give Nora a chance to speak. She says she likes Ds because they “have a pretty shape.” Everyone seems shocked, and Nora is thrilled with herself for being such a good actor.

The next day, Nora tries to show Stephen that it is not a big deal to get bad grades. She keeps telling him that bad grades do not make a person dumb. She also insists that she is not in trouble and that she will not be held back. He does not seem convinced.

At lunchtime, the school librarian asks to speak with Nora. The librarian, Mrs. Byrne, has checked Nora’s Internet use for the term. Nora spends a great deal of time on the Internet after school. She has been researching alternative energy, e-mailing back and forth with a primate researcher, taking a college astronomy class, and learning about educational theory. Mrs. Byrne wants to know how she was able to do all this and also fail her basic Internet research assignment in her library skills class. Unable to think of a way out, Nora tells Mrs. Byrne the truth. She explains that she wants to force people to think about grades and competition at school. She is hoping she can change the way people behave. She also points out that her grades really do not matter; she can do well any time she wants.

After lunch, Nora meets Dr. Trindler, the guidance counselor, who gives her an intelligence test. He does not use the test she expects, so she does not know how many questions she needs to miss. She purposely misses thirty percent, hoping that a seventy percent score will make her appear average.

She feels okay about it until the next day, when Mrs. Byrne tells her that she scored at a genius level despite her missed questions. Mr. Trindler thinks it must be a mistake. At lunch, Nora is so stressed out that she does something she has never done before. She uses her superior knowledge to make other kids feel bad, to protect Stephen from some boys who are teasing him. Mr. Trindler hears her, and later he calls her into his office and asks her to be honest with him. Nora cannot find a way out aside from the truth. She explains that her test score is inaccurate—because it is too low.

When she gets home that evening, Nora can tell that her whole family knows about her IQ. Mom and Dad are thrilled and are already talking about moving Nora to a new school and sending her to an Ivy League college. Ann is upset because she likes being the best at everything. Todd seems unhappy about being outshone by his little sister as well as his older one.

That night, Stephen calls. He is mad that Nora thought she needed to take care of him in the lunchroom. Now that the story about her genius is out, Nora takes the opportunity to confess to him. Her plan is ruined anyway, and she wants to save her friendship. To her surprise, Stephen comes up with a new plan.

First, Stephen makes sure all the kids at school know Nora is a genius. Then Nora goes to class and acts the part. She uses big words and shows off the fact that she knows more even than the teachers do. The next day, however, she purposely gets zeroes on all her tests. When she gets in trouble, she says the tests only ask her to memorize facts, not do anything with them. She says her scores on the tests are her grades of the test material. The principal says she needs more stimulating material, but Nora says every kid does.

After this conversation, Nora starts to think she might be making the wrong choice. She knows most kids are not as worried about competition at school as she is. Maybe if she challenges the issue, she will only make matters worse. Instead of talking to Stephen about her doubts, she avoids him all weekend and stays home sick on Monday. Halfway through the day, Mom arrives looking angry. She insists on taking Nora to school, where Stephen has put the next part of the plan into action on his own. He has convinced almost all of the students in Nora’s class to get zeroes on their tests on purpose.

At a meeting, the principal and the school superintendent compare Nora’s and Stephen’s behavior to vandalism. The principal says both kids will be suspended for two weeks, but Mrs. Byrne protests. She says the kids were acting bravely and with good intentions, even though their methods were not good. “I am flatly opposed to these suspensions,” she says, and several other teachers agree with her. A debate begins, and it is clear that neither the principal nor the superintendent knows what to do.

Nora and Stephen volunteer to talk to the kids who rebelled with them. They explain that they wanted to get kids and teachers thinking about the idea of grades because there is too much competition at school. They admit their plan was not the best way to do this and say they have learned that some teachers dislike testing as much as most kids do. They ask everyone to go back to trying hard in class and to work together with teachers to make school better.

After the meeting, the principal tries to place Nora in the gifted program. Nora objects, saying that she likes normal classes and normal kids. She points out that it is a challenge for someone like her to interact with ordinary people. When her Dad argues that she should fulfill her full potential, she replies:

Who gets to say what my full potential is? An IQ test? Shouldn’t I have something to say about what I want to accomplish? What if what I really want is to be normal?

Nora has a hard time getting back to normal, but she knows she can do it. She makes it through the afternoon, even though kids keep whispering and talking about her. After school, she thanks Mrs. Byrne on her way to the bus. When she and Stephen get home, he asks if Nora challenged grades and competition because of him. She admits she did, partly. He nods, and they talk a bit more until they say good-bye. When they separate, Nora realizes that Stephen is still treating her like an ordinary kid. For now, that is all she wants.