Gordon Korman’s 2025 middle-grade novel, Old School, tells the story of 12-year-old Dexter Foreman, a boy raised by his grandmother and the other residents of The Pines Retirement Village. When a truancy officer discovers that Dexter has never attended a formal school, he is forced into the bewildering world of Wolf’s Eye Middle School. Dexter’s old-fashioned sensibilities and practical skills, learned from his elderly mentors, immediately clash with the social norms and expectations of his new peers. The novel explores themes of Bridging the Generational Divide Through Shared Experience, Navigating Individuality in the Face of Peer Pressure, and Redefining Education Beyond the Classroom.

Korman is a prolific and award-winning Canadian American author with over 100 books for young readers to his name. Known for his humorous, fast-paced narratives and ensemble casts, Korman often explores themes of friendship, school dynamics, and the experiences of outsiders in his work, similar to his other popular standalone novels like Restart and Ungifted. He began his career at a young age, having published his first book at 14 after writing it for a seventh-grade English project. Old School employs a multi-perspective narrative, a technique common in Korman’s books, to examine how community, identity, and kindness are understood across different generations.

This guide refers to the 2025 first edition published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of bullying, illness, and death.

Plot Summary

Twelve-year-old Dexter Foreman lives with his grandmother Adele at The Pines Retirement Village. His parents, a diplomat and an international financier, work abroad, leaving Dexter to be raised among the senior residents. His best friend is Leo Preminger, a 99-year-old World War II codebreaker. During a community bingo game, a truancy officer, Sergeant Kurtz, arrives to ask why Dexter has never been officially registered for school. Dexter explains that he is homeschooled by the retired experts at The Pines, but Kurtz dismisses the arrangement and orders him to begin seventh grade at Wolf’s Eye Middle School.

The perspective shifts to Gianna Greco, an ambitious seventh-grade reporter for the school newspaper, the Eyeball, who is desperate for a major story. On the school bus, she meets Dexter, whose old-fashioned clothes and briefcase make him an immediate target for ridicule. Gianna interviews him and learns his unusual backstory, realizing that he’s the perfect subject for an article. Her brother Ronny Greco begins bullying Dexter by shooting paper clips at him. In another shift in narrative perspective, the school’s guidance counselor, Ms. Napier, observes Dexter’s awkward arrival. She notes his tendency to point out the school’s maintenance issues. During a tour, Dexter interrupts a class to fix a knocking radiator with a quarter, surprising everyone and making Ms. Napier worry that his odd behavior will make him a target.

Dexter struggles to adjust to the chaotic school environment. He confronts Ronny about the paper clips, leading to a fight in which Dexter’s self-defense training causes Ronny to injure his own hand by punching the bus. Dexter’s friends at The Pines offer him outdated advice. Later, the school’s most popular student, an athlete and mathlete named Jackson Sharpe, is shocked to learn that Dexter beat him on the math team tryout and resolves to get rid of him. In the cafeteria, after Ronny kicks his lunch bag, Dexter gets a bit of revenge when Ronny steals one of his spicy candies and has a fiery reaction.

The math team wins its first meet thanks to Dexter’s perfect score, fueling Jackson’s resentment. Jackson forges a letter on fake school stationery from the school board chair, J. Enoch Dunwoody, inviting Dexter to complete a special project to prove that he’s too advanced for middle school. Believing the offer is genuine, Dexter begins creating an unbreakable code with Leo’s help. His childhood friend, Teagan Santoro, visits The Pines, but she has changed and is dismissive of their old friendship, leaving Dexter hurt and confused.

Ronny plans to put creosote in Dexter’s locker. When he breaks into the locker, he’s intrigued to find that Dexter has bought a new T-shirt that says “T-SHIRT.” His plan is interrupted when Ms. Napier leaves her office nearby. Later, Dexter shares his lunch with Ronny, starting an unlikely friendship. Gianna follows Dexter home to research her article, observing how beloved he is at The Pines. Though she feels guilty, the article is published, making Dexter’s unique background public knowledge. He cements his reputation as “Mr. Fix-it” by repairing a broken stair at the school’s entrance, and he teaches a group of sixth graders how to play shuffleboard. In science class, Jackson “accidentally” spills acid on Dexter’s sweater, forcing him into modern clothes from the “lost and found” for the first time. The next day, Dexter is confronted by the student resource officer for using his Swiss Army knife to retrieve Ronny’s chips from a faulty vending machine. Citing a zero-tolerance policy, the principal suspends Dexter.

Gianna discovers that her editor, Traci, has rewritten her article about the suspension to portray Dexter as a criminal. Gianna quits the Eyeball in protest and distributes her own leaflet telling the true story. In his absence, Dexter becomes a folk hero. A school-wide “Justice for Dexter” movement consumes the student body, with students signing petitions, posting signs celebrating his repairs, and interrupting a school assembly to protest his suspension. Jackson’s popularity is eclipsed by Dexter’s. Needing math help, Ronny visits Dexter, who agrees to tutor him. Soon, other students begin visiting Dexter. The Pines becomes the new center of the school’s social life, a popular hangout where students form genuine friendships with the elderly residents.

Teagan returns to The Pines and is stunned by Dexter’s new popularity. She tries to reconnect and invites him to a dance in New York. The school board announces a meeting to decide Dexter’s fate and the future of the school building. On the morning of the meeting, Leo is hospitalized after a fall but makes Dexter promise to perform their code demonstration. At the school, Dexter’s sixth-grade fans show him a basement room that they’ve cleaned to be their shuffleboard “league office.” There, Dexter discovers a table carved with the words “WELCOME TO THE BUNKER” and Leo’s initials (250). He realizes that he has found the secret WWII headquarters of the codebreakers. At the meeting, the letter about his project is revealed as a forgery, and Teagan, his planned partner for the demonstration, fails to appear.

Gianna volunteers to assist Dexter, and they successfully demonstrate the code. Dexter announces his discovery of the bunker, and Gianna argues that its historical significance means the school must be refurbished, not demolished. As the board deliberates, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raids the meeting, having tracked Dexter’s “unbreakable” coded messages. After Dexter explains, the impressed board chair offers to reinstate him. When Ms. Napier asks what he truly wants, Dexter chooses to return to school, and the students erupt in celebration. He realizes that Jackson likely sent the fake letter. After the meeting, Dexter learns that Leo has passed away.

At Leo’s funeral, Dexter shares a story about his friend. He then declines Teagan’s invitation to New York, recognizing Gianna as a true friend. The following Monday, a new electric school bus, purchased with funds saved by the decision to renovate the school, arrives to pick him up. Dexter is welcomed back by his classmates with a standing ovation. He has made a deal to keep his Swiss Army knife after removing the blades. He immediately uses the screwdriver attachment to tighten a loose screw on the new bus, embracing his role as the school’s resident “Mr. Fix-it.”