The Best School Year Ever

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of bullying, ableism, and child abuse.

“The Herdmans didn’t care. They knew they were outlaws. So did Miss Kemp, but I guess she had to pretend they were like everybody else.”

Beth believes that Miss Kemp was hypocritical in scolding Boomer for singling out and mocking the Herdman children in his class project. She recognizes that Boomer is only echoing the community’s attitude toward these unruly children and that the school itself already singles them out for criticism and exclusion on a daily basis. This incident clearly demonstrates how the Herdman children are ostracized and othered by their community and conveys The Danger of Valuing Order Above Compassion.

“[T]he Herdmans […] were the worst kids in the history of the world. They weren’t honest or cheerful or industrious or cooperative or clean. They told lies and smoked cigars and set fire to things and hit little kids and cursed and stayed away from school whenever they wanted.”

Beth’s hyperbole—“the worst kids in the history of the world”—conveys how very disturbing she finds the Herdman children’s behavior and stresses her belief in the importance of social order. Her listing of qualities the Herdmans lack indicates what Beth herself has been raised to believe good children should be. Because of her beliefs, the petty mischief and minor bullying the Herdmans engage in shocks her to her core. Her comically exaggerated reaction to their behavior as well as the listing of silly details like smoking cigars establishes the text’s lighthearted tone toward the Herdmans.

“When you think of Albert Pelfrey, you think fat […] It’s hard to think anything else, so I would really have to study Albert to find some special personal quality that wasn’t just about being fat.”

Beth’s tone toward Albert’s larger body size reveals a prejudice against fat people and a preference for conformity.