The Perfect Score

Randi is another point-of-view character. Like Gavin, she is gifted athletically (in gymnastics instead of football), and as Gavin describes, “She had a short haircut and was often mistaken for a boy ’cause of it” (12). Randi faces pressure from her mother, who pushes her to be the best in everything, gymnastics especially. In addition to placing at gymnastics competitions, Randi’s mom also expects Randi to get perfect grades and participate in extracurricular activities at school, such as Mrs. Magenta’s art program. Randi does well in school when she applies herself, but when she doesn’t have sufficient time to spend on more difficult subjects, like math, her performance starts to slip, showing the problem with placing too much pressure on a child.

Randi’s character arc epitomizes The Pressure Inherent in Expectations. After years of such pressure, gymnastics feels like work for Randi, and her arc shows how the thing she once loved becomes her greatest stressor. The pressure to be the best doesn’t make Randi work harder—it makes her afraid to make mistakes, which causes more mistakes. By contrast, Randi finds Mrs. Magenta’s program to be fun and stress-free, which results in her making friends and doing well with the art and social activities. Altogether, Randi’s arc demonstrates the impact of stress and the unhealthy effects of pressurizing parent-child relationships.

Natalie is another point-of-view character. The legal-brief style of her chapters shows her no-nonsense personality, which is complemented by how she dresses: “Very professional” (16). From the beginning, Natalie is clear on how she feels and her inability to have her mind changed. She believes that she understands everything about how the world works. As the text progresses and Natalie forms relationships with the other children, however, she starts to realize that her limited, narrow understanding of the world does not apply in all situations or for all people, a lesson that parallels the novel’s critiques of standardized testing, which doesn’t take children’s differences into account.

This is particularly true when she learns the truth about the court case involving Gavin’s dad. Natalie has always prided herself on finding and sticking by the truth, so learning that there are people who do otherwise makes her rethink her view of adults as upstanding people who know right from wrong. From this, she begins to question her own definitions of these terms, which ultimately convinces her to help her friends cheat on the CSAs. By the end of the book, Natalie realizes that right and wrong have shades of gray, and she learns to approach each person and situation individually, rather than lumping everything together and passing sweeping, generalized judgments.

Trevor is the fourth point-of-view character. At the beginning of the book, Trevor has a bad attitude about almost everything, which is later revealed to be a result of the abuse he receives from his brother. Trevor acts tough to discourage anyone else from giving him grief because he tries to convince himself that he doesn’t “back down from anybody” (19). As the story progresses and the abuse at home gets worse, Trevor becomes more desperate to escape his situation, which leads to him cheating on the CSAs. His situation is a significant part of the novel’s critique of standardized testing since Trevor is unfairly compared to students who have safe home lives.

The most significant part of Trevor’s character development is when his soft underbelly is also revealed, something that he has kept hidden as a form of self-preservation. Trevor has the capacity to care for others and protect those he views as important, but he has been afraid to show this because he believed it to be a weakness that his brother could exploit. His realization that emotions and sensitivity can be a good thing highlights the theme of Finding Strength in Perceived Weaknesses. When Trevor tells the truth about his situation in his affidavit, his situation improves. When Trevor feels that he has nothing left to lose, he admits everything, finding that doing so helps.

Scott is the final point-of-view character of the novel. In Chapter 1, Gavin says of Scott, “That boy was a mess” (1), a truth that is reflected throughout the book both through Scott’s actions and appearance. Scott often makes physical messes, such as spilling paint and juice all over himself, but he also makes messes of situations, such as when he tries to help his friends by cheating on the CSAs. Despite Scott’s messes, he remains enthusiastic and endearing to his peers, and his character represents the importance of Being True to Oneself. Scott always stays true to who he is, even when others laugh at him, which lets him offer help in almost every situation. This quality ultimately brings the rest of the group close to him and, by extension, to each other, which allows rifts to heal and bonds to build. Scott’s inviting personality makes people feel at home around him, and his desire to help wins people over so that they can’t stay mad at him, not even when Scott misses test day at school. Instead of blaming him, his friends rally around him, recognizing that they can be more like Scott and promote kindness.

Mrs. Woods is a last-minute replacement for the teacher that the students should have had for sixth grade. Though she is older, Mrs. Woods is not past her prime. Her years of teaching mean that she knows how to deal with each of her students as individuals, finding the best way to reach them and help them find their potential. From keeping Trevor in from recess when he acts out, to giving Gavin specialized help with reading, to confronting Randi’s mother about the pressure she puts on her daughter, Mrs. Woods has a positive impact on all her students, and she represents the power of a teacher who has her students’ best interests at heart.

Mrs. Woods is a foil for the CSAs. Where the tests are designed as a one-size-fits-all assessment that treats all students exactly the same despite individual strengths and weaknesses, Mrs. Woods views every child as unique and tailors her teaching style so that each student gets the most out of her class. As a result, the five protagonists of the novel walk out of her class as better and more well-rounded people than they entered it.