Here are the options:
Book Dumb: A character who sucks in school and gets terrible grades but excels in other ways.
Book Smarts: A character who is great in school and gets good grades but doesn’t excel in other things.
So, do you have any characters that fit one of these options even if a little bit?
Alma definitely is Book Smarts. He’s extremely knowledgeable, but is terrible with social interactions, lacks actual experience in the world, and is incredibly naive.
I have a character that is Book Dumb, but… Well, despite surviving like a cocroach, he doesn’t actually have much street smarts either. He’s dumb in a lot of ways, including both information and common sense based. So I don’t know if he counts for option A. His name is Kaleb and I actually don’t have a story in mind for him yet. He’s just a well developed character without a plot.
Exactly, what do you mean by that?
I mean that he gets himself into dangerous, life threatening situations all the time because of his stupidity and has had several near death experiences, but somehow is still alive, despite the fact that he still hasn’t learned his lesson and his stupidity fueled antics that nearly get him killed are still ongoing.
Geez!
Now, I am curious as to how he became that way. Is there something deeper or that is just how he is?
Forgive if that doesn’t make sense to you.
A combonation of undiagnosed mental health issues, abuse and extreme neglect as a child, a severe lack of support and community, bullying, poverty, and substance abuse addiction as an adult mostly… He’s had a very hard life, but despite having his fair share of issues, he has a heart of gold and good intentions, if a bit misguided at times.
Oh wow! Now, I feel bad for the guy.
Damn, my bad.
Lol it’s ok. He’s kind of my whumpy/hurt-comfort character.
Dov found academia and school in general boring, did just enough study to pass, and otherwise struggled to give the books (not involving his personal interests) much attention. However, Dov excelled with physical challenges. He joined the Australian Commandos immediately after high school, completed the advanced sharpshooter course during Basic Training, and survived three consecutive tours in Afghanistan with no injuries, a battlefield promotion to Sargent, and a modest collection of medals (including a USMC Bronze Star).
Hannah memorised most of her household’s book collection (the villa’s library is her second bedroom), graduated from high school and university with mocking ease, taught herself the cello (symphony orchestra quality), and currently works in Israeli Military Intelligence. However, Hannah is at best a fumbling buffoon when attempting genuine personal interactions (or relationships) or dealing with / healing from severe trauma. She struggles to switch-off her ‘perfect spy’ mentality, trust strangers, or manage / reveal her emotions.
I would say that 95% of the Churroverse are book dumb.
Damn. LOL!
Max is a mechanic, Julio is a pain, Teo is also a mechanic; Mac is a graphic designer, Domingo is a criminal, Andy Flow is a musician, Alicia is a world class bs’er, and Yelena has her own cooking business.
They all are interesting. LOL!
Especially Alicia and Julio.
Troy - he’s never been a school person in part because of his upbringing and in part because he gets bored all the time. But when it comes to the world outside of school, he’s amazing
Maddie - she had a very sheltered upbringing so is still figuring out how the real world works, but her drive to learn lets her be very school smart
My others–Hathor, Imogene, Sky and Isaiah–are a mix of both depending on the situation
yassss writing teen characters in school let me answer these questions wooooo!
Does not being good with relationships count?
Nicolas in my current story is a bit of both, but he probably leans more in “book smarts.” He’s good with learning and school and stuff, but put him out in reality? He’s a dumpster fire. Although he acts like he’s all that, and even believes it, but you can definitely see he’s clearly not.
It can so yeah.
Are these from your novel series with the gods and the cosmos or something else?
Okay then well, Cypur’s really good in school, but not good with relationships. But for some reason, his so-called friends come to him for relationship advice 
Yeah, I never understood that.
Why do people who are relationship savvy in a sense go to people who aren’t in relationships or never have been for advice?
That’s always stuck me as weird.