The Education of Robert Nifkin

Pinkwater, Daniel. The Education of Robert Nifkin. Farrar, Strous, & Girous, 1998. ISBN 0374319694

Plot

This high school tale is written in the form of a college application essay. Robert Nifkin lives in 1950s New York City. His parents are Eastern European immigrants who seem to already assume Robert is an independent adult as he begins high school. His high school seems only to expect students to copy things from the blackboard. Robert joins the ROTC to avoid Physical Education classes. School seems a waste of time. One day he simply decides not to get off the bus at his stop near the high school. He wanders the city during each school day until his truancy is noticed. He is threatened with expulsion. He has made friends with students at the Wheaton School, a clearly non-traditional high school, and he convinces his parents to send him there. He manages to complete enough work there, despite the lack of organized instruction, to graduate and make plans to go to college.

Critical Evaluation

The characters in this story are eccentric and believable at the same time. It is fun to read about the high school teachers and students Robert encounters. Robert is easy to sympathize with, and it is a relief to see him find a place at the Wheaton School. His growing up experiences take place there while his family and home life recede. Robert Nifkin is a survivor, and a funny one at that.

Annotations

Robert Nifkin flees both his home life and his high school for adventures in New York City. He enrolls in the alternative Wheaton School. There he grows up and prepares for college.

Author

Daniel Pinkwater writes funny books for children and young adults. He has a weird sense of humor which is thoroughly engaging. He is also a popular radio personality.

Genre

Fiction – high school experiences, 1950s New York

Curriculum Ties

Language Arts

Booktalk Ideas

Read a few pages of the story from Robert's first day at his new high school. Ask listeners to share their first day of school experiences. Ask listeners to guess what might happen next.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade 7 (age 13) and up.

Challenge Issues and Defense

This book is from an author who writes for children, but this title is for older tweens, for teens, and young adults. They will be better able to appreciate the colorful language and high school setting of the story.

Why is it here?

Since this author also writes for children, I wanted to read a Daniel Pinkwater book from the Young Adult collection at my library to see if it would be appropriate for tweens.