The Unteachables

Kiana still hasn’t told her family that they never formally registered her at school, and she satisfies them with slightly made-up stories about what she’s learning.

On the day of the field trip to Terranova Motors, Jake himself comes out to greet the class. They tour the show room and check out every car on display. Kiana ends up enjoying herself, and for the first time since coming to Greenwich, she feels like she “could be with any class of kids in the country” (157).

After lunch, the kids tour the service department, which captures their interest in an intense way. As they watch cars being taken apart and put back together, Elaine chokes on one of the cookies she stole during lunch. When Barnstorm smacks her in the back with a crutch, he dislodges the piece of cookie, which flies into one of the car engines below. A frantic Jake orders the car to be disassembled and cleaned, and the field trip ends.

On their way to the bus, the kids argue about who should or shouldn’t get a puffy-tail after the day’s incident. After they’ve been on the road for a bit, Ms. Fountain gets a call that there’s “a middle school boy asleep on the couch in the showroom” (164)—Rahim.