Saving Mr. Terupt

The novel is narrated in rotating first-person chapters by seven former students of beloved elementary school teacher Mr. Terupt: Peter, Jeffrey, Jessica, Alexia (Lexie), Danielle, Anna, and Luke. Entering seventh grade at a new junior high, the group faces their first year without Mr. Terupt as their teacher. Their bond was forged when Mr. Terupt suffered a near-fatal head injury and coma, an event that transformed them from classmates into a tightly knit group.

The story opens during the summer before seventh grade. Peter and Jeffrey attend wrestling camp, where Mr. Terupt drops them off with personalized gifts and advice to stick together. Jessica attends theater camp with Lexie, hoping for an invitation to a prestigious weekend retreat in New York City. Lexie, whose mother waitresses at a restaurant run by a cook named Vincent who has become an important caretaker for their family, organizes a shopping trip that bonds the four girls. Anna spends the summer on Danielle's family farm, growing close to Charlie, Danielle's older brother who is dating Anna's mother, Terri, and waiting impatiently for Charlie to propose. Jeffrey's baby brother, Asher, keeps saying "My-my" (10) while pointing outside, a mystery Jeffrey cannot solve. Luke attends camps and brings home a pet ball python named Stanley, but his seventh-grade schedule places him in advanced classes, entirely separated from his friends.

Seventh grade begins roughly. Older boys led by one named Zack mock Lexie, and Peter earns three detentions after crashing into Principal Lee and spilling coffee on him. Luke, isolated in advanced classes, is bullied by Zack daily and eats lunch alone. His one bright spot is science with Mr. Brobur, a veteran teacher and wrestling coach. When Danielle insists the group visit Mr. Terupt at Snow Hill School, their former elementary school, they find him absent and end up at Vincent's restaurant instead, sharing a rare afternoon of togetherness.

Student government elections prompt both Lexie and Peter to run for president. Luke proposes using Mr. Terupt's classroom as shared headquarters, and their weekly Campaign Days restore the feeling of old times. Each friend contributes their strengths while Mr. Terupt circulates among them. Meanwhile, Lexie receives the retreat invitation in the mail but hides it from Jessica, worried her friend did not receive one. When Mrs. Terupt appears glowing at a Campaign Day, Danielle recognizes she is pregnant and announces the joyful news.

Since Mr. Terupt must miss their next meeting, the group holds a campaign-ending party at Peter's house. Lexie initiates a spin-the-bottle game in which selected pairs spend two minutes in a closet. Jeffrey and Jessica are paired first; inside, they only talk, with Jessica confirming that Anna likes Jeffrey. But when they emerge, Anna assumes the worst, and Luke, who has feelings for Jessica, leaves in anguish. Peter and Danielle are paired next. Danielle, whose undiagnosed diabetes is worsening, panics in the dark heat, and Peter hugs her to calm her down, a scene the others misinterpret. Trust shatters, the party ends, and the friends stop speaking.

The fracture persists through December. Luke devises a clever prank that publicly humiliates Zack and wins Luke new friends. On election day, Lexie withdraws from the race, and Peter redirects voters to Luke, who wins by write-in. Jeffrey loses the Holiday Invitational wrestling final to Scott Winshall, while Peter wins his weight class. Coach Brobur consoles Jeffrey: He has lost the battle but can still win the war.

On Christmas Eve, Danielle's symptoms lead to an emergency room visit and a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. She learns she will need insulin injections for life. That night, Anna comes to her room, and their rift mends in a tearful hug. On Christmas morning, Lexie receives a puppy named Margo from Vincent, then learns her mother has breast cancer, caught early thanks to Vincent urging her to see a doctor. Jessica visits and sees the retreat invitation on Lexie's table. Lexie, unable to attend because of her mother's illness, gives it to Jessica, who is overwhelmed by competing emotions of empathy and guilt.

In January, Lexie's mother undergoes a lumpectomy, or surgical removal of the tumor, and begins chemotherapy. Mr. Terupt invites the gang to visit his classroom on Thursdays, and everyone shows up despite lingering tensions. A literature circle inspires a plan: Jessica will attend the New York retreat disguised as Lexie. There, she discovers the writing instructor is her estranged father, who reveals he never signed the divorce papers. Jessica's mother later admits she hid the original invitation because of his involvement. In February, Charlie proposes to Anna's mother with a diamond ring held by a snowman, and Anna and Danielle celebrate becoming an official family.

The group fully reunites when Luke discovers that a failing school budget could eliminate Mr. Terupt's position, since the newest teachers face cuts first. In the girls' bathroom, Lexie, Jessica, Anna, and Danielle have a tearful reconciliation, revealing the truths behind the closet incidents. The gang resolves to save Mr. Terupt. Luke organizes the "Everything Fair," a school-wide event showcasing student projects inspired by Mr. Terupt's teaching. The fair impresses administrators but cannot override seniority-based layoff rules.

The campaign escalates. At a wrestling tournament, Jeffrey defeats the previously unbeaten Winshall at the buzzer, and Peter finishes undefeated. Jeffrey gives Anna a candy heart reading "Be mine" (242) and asks her out. Asher says "My-ill" across the gym, and Anna recognizes the sound as "Michael," the name of Jeffrey's deceased older brother, solving the yearlong mystery. Lexie kisses Peter on the cheek. Then Mr. Terupt rushes away because Mrs. Terupt has gone into preterm labor; doctors stop the labor, but she is placed on bed rest. At the budget meeting, Luke delivers an impassioned speech, and Lexie's mother, weakened by chemotherapy, speaks movingly about how Mr. Terupt inspires children. Despite these efforts, the gang campaigns with letters, flyers, and posters, but on Voting Day the budget fails, 2,456 to 2,349. The gang is devastated.

Luke plans a school-wide silent sit-in. On the designated morning, the entire student body fills the high school gym holding signs. When Principal Lee threatens consequences, Peter stands to take the blame, then Jeffrey, then Jessica, until every student is chanting, "Save our teachers" (335). Mr. Terupt arrives, thanks them, and asks them to stop. The gang believes they have failed.

On the last day of school, Mr. Brobur announces his retirement at the yearbook assembly and introduces his replacement: Mr. William Terupt. The gang rushes to embrace him. Mr. Brobur's decision has created the vacancy that saves Mr. Terupt's position. Outside, Mr. Terupt introduces the gang to his newborn daughter, Hope, named for what these students gave the Terupts. Lexie's mother's scan comes back cancer-free. Jessica writes her final essay as a letter to her father, expressing hope that their family's story is unfinished. Mrs. Reeder reads it four times and tells Jessica to send it rather than submit it as a paper. That night, Jessica finds her mother reading accumulated letters from her father, surrounded by tissues. Luke asks Jessica to go on a walk, and she declines to record what happens, noting only that describing it "would require especially beautiful writing" (366). Peter reflects that with every ending comes a beginning, and eighth grade with Mr. Terupt is a beginning they cannot wait for.