Thursday 26 September 2019

Restart - Gordon Korman

Restart
Gordon Korman
Scholastic
ISBN 9781338053784
eISBN 9781338053807
ASIN B01M5J6AN3



It has been a few years since I have read a Gordon Korman novel. In fact it has been 9 years. I was impressed with both his volumes in the original 39 Clues Series, and read one other, and just never got back to reading anything else. But after reading this volume I have found about a half dozen by him that are now on my wish list. My son is in grade 6 and come home from school talking about this book. They are reading it together in class. And each student will read a chapter to the class. And they already have several assignments that will span the fall working on this book and using it as a jumping off point. I picked up the eBook so that both my son and I could be reading it at the same time. When he gets excited about a school book he wants to get it read and not wait for the rest of the class.

This story is a really intriguing concept. Chase, the school bully, and football champ falls off his roof over summer break and has amnesia. Once he is back at school he hangs out with people he would not have before, even joining the video club. He slowly learns that he was not a nice guy, a very not nice guy. He also realized his old best friends might not really be friends at all. He is struggling with questions about who he really is and who he wants to be. His relationships have changed with his mom, his stepmom and his stepsister. But the school seems to be holding its breath for the old Chase to reappear. When he ends up in a jam, he makes a split decision to save his own hide even though it seems to cost him everything he now cares about.

This is a great story for students and for their parents. I have encountered coworkers that are much like old Chase. And, I have seen a few change their stripes, but few and far between. The story is excellent for discussions, and I could see it being a great classroom read. My son and I have already had three conversations about different events in the story. And some carry over into events he has experienced at school. It is an excellent read, and I am glad my sons’ class is reading it, and that he mentioned it so I could give it a read as well.

This is an excellent book! And as I mentioned earlier, I have already added 6 other Korman titles to my wish list, for future reading.

Books by Gordon Korman:
MacDonald Hall Series:
         (formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle)
The Zucchini Warriors (1988)
Light’s Camera, Disaster (1991)
          (aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)
The Jokes on Us (1995)
          (formerly Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall)

Bugs Potter Series:

Jeremy Bloom Series:
The D−Poems of Jeremy Bloom (1992)
The Last-Place Sports Poems of Jeremy Bloom (1996)

Monday Night Football Series:
The Quarterback Exchange (1997)
Running Back Conversion (1997)
Super Bowl Switch (1997)
Heavy Artillery (1997)
Ultimate Scoring Machine (1998)
NFL Rules! Bloopers, Pranks, Upsets, and Touchdowns (1998)

Masterminds Series:

Slapshots Series:
The Stars From Mars (1999)
All-Mars All-Stars/The Dream Team (1999)
The Face-off Phony (2000)
Cup Crazy (2000)
Ouch I got slapped (2023)
4-in-1 Slapshots: The Complete Collection (2008)

Nose Pickers Series:
Nose Pickers from Outer Space! (1999)
Planet of the Nose Pickers (2000)
Your Mummy Is a Nose Picker (2000)
Invasion of the Nose Pickers (2001)
4-in-1 The Ultimate Nose-Picker Collection (2006)

Island Series:
Shipwreck (2001)
Survival (2001)
Escape (2001)
3-in-1 Island Trilogy Collection (2006)

Son of the Mob Series:
Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustle (2004)

Everest Series:
The Contest (2002)
The Climb (2002)
The Summit (2002)
Everest Trilogy Box Set (2002)

Dive Series:
The Discovery (2003)
The Deep (2003)
The Danger (2003)

On the Run Series:
The Stowaway Solution (2005)
Public Enemies (2005)
Hunting the Hunter (2006)

Kidnapped Series:
The Search (2006)
The Rescue (2006)

Swindle Series:
Swindle (2008)
Zoobreak (2009)
Framed (2010)
Showoff (2012)
Hideout (2013)
Jackpot (2014)
Unleashed (2015)
Jingle (2016)

Titanic Series:
Unsinkable (2011)
Collision Course (2011)
S.O.S (2011)

The 39 Clues Series:
Vespers Rising (2011)
The Medusa Plot (2011)
Flashpoint (2014)

Hypnotists Series:
The Hypnotists (2013)
Memory Maze (2014)
The Dragonfly Effect (2015)

Ungifted Series:
Ungifted (2012)
Supergifted (2018)

Slacker Series:
Slacker (2016)
Level 13 (2019)
...

Non Series Books:
Losing Joe's Place (1990)
The Twinkie Squad (1992)
The Toilet Paper Tigers (1993)
Why Did the Underwear Cross the Road (1994)
The Chicken Doesn't Skate (1996)
No More Dead Dogs (2000)
Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America (2003)
Jake, Reinvented (2003)
Born To Rock (2006)
Schooled (2007)
Pop (2009)
Restart (2017)
Notorious (2019)
War Stories (2020)
Game On (contains The Chicken Doesn’t Skate and The Toilet Paper Tigers (2021)
Unplugged (2021)
Linked (2021)
The Fort (2022)







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