The Best School Year Ever

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

Beth, a sixth grader at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, is the narrator and protagonist of The Best School Year Ever. At the end of the novel, when students in Beth’s class have been assigned to give one another compliments, the classmate assigned to Beth lists her good qualities: “Cheerful, good sport, graceful, fair to everybody” (111). Some of these qualities can be seen in her narrative voice throughout the novel. The last quality in the list is tested as Beth struggles to come up with compliments for Imogene Herdman, whose disruptive behavior leads most of the community to shun her. Beth’s narration is at times good-natured and funny, and she does not react with any real anger when she is impacted by the Herdman children’s mischief. She believes that children should be “cheerful” and “cooperative,” and shows her scorn for those who are not. Early in the novel, her tone in describing the Herdman children demonstrates The Danger of Valuing Order Above Compassion. 

Despite her cheerful disposition and her efforts to be fair, Beth is also free with criticism when she feels it is deserved.