Gordon Korman
Scholastic
ISBN 9781443182850
eISBN 9781443146067
ASIN B07T9B6N8N
My son and I started reading Gordon Korman books together a few years ago. We had mostly been reading his more recent titles. But I saw an announcement about a 40th Anniversary Edition of this title with a new cover. That cover reminded me a lot of the covers from the Slacker series. And after reading this I see that beavers have played a part in his books for 40 years now. I have now read thirteen books from Korman’s masterful pen and have yet to read a dud. Over the last few years my son and I have read about a dozen books by Gordon Korman. And we plan to read many of the older titles, but love picking up his new releases and giving them a read. We have loved all the books we have read so far, and have many we want to read. I read this one ahead of my son because he already had a book on the go with his mother (Harry Potter 7), and one of Corinna Turner’s unSPARKed books with me. So I read this on my own ahead of rereading it with my son.
This book originally published when Korman was just 18, and was his fifth book published. And having read his most recent release, Unplugged I can say that his writing has always been excellent. Korman has published over 80 books geared for middle grade or young adult audiences. And this one is as good as any of the others I have read. Many of his more recent books are told in a series of chapters in the first-person perspective. That is not the case with this earlier work.
This story is about Rudy Miller, a young chap who really, really, really does not want to be at summer camp. Being at camp was the brainchild of a school counselor, and his parents just went along. And like Pinky and the Brain, every day Rudy comes up with a new plan for how to escape Camp Algonkian. Rudy teams up with a cabin mate Mike and each day they try to get off the island and away from the camp. But a wrench gets tossed in their plans when it becomes apparent that Rudy has some exceptional skills. They spend so much time on work detail it is hard to see how they planned let alone execute their escape plans.
This story was packed full of adventure and humour. There were a few places where it was laugh out loud funny. It was very hard to put down once I started reading. The friendship between Mike and Rudy was entertaining to watch as it grew. It was also hilarious to see the growing frustration first with Cabin 13’s counselor and then with all the staff.
With every book I read from Korman’s pen the more impressed I am. His books have great appeal to younger readers but are written so that parents, adults, and educators can enjoy them as well. This volume was out of print for a while but is now back in print in the 40th Anniversary Edition. So I encourage you to pick it up and give it a read. Another excellent read from Gordon Korman.
Books by Gordon Korman:
MacDonald Hall Series:
Go Jump in the Pool (1979)
Beware the Fish! (1980)
The Wizzle War (1982)
(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:
Who is Bugs Potter? (1980)
…
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:
Masterminds (2015)
Masterminds: Payback (2017)
…
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 (2002)
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:
Chasing the Falconers (2005)
The Fugitive Factor (2005)
Now You See Them, Now You Don't (2005)
The Stowaway Solution (2005)
Public Enemies (2005)
Hunting the Hunter (2006)
…
Kidnapped Series:
The Abduction (2006)
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:
One False Note (2008)
The Emperor's Code (2010)
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:
...
Non Series Books:
I Want to Go Home! (1981)
Our Man Weston (1982)
No Coins, Please (1984)
Don't Care High (1985)
Son of Interflux (1986)
Radio 5th Grade (1989)
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)
Liar, Liar Pants on Fire (1997)
No More Dead Dogs (2000)
Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America (2003)
Jake, Reinvented (2003)
Born To Rock (2006)
Schooled (2007)
The Juvie Three (2008)
Pop (2009)
Restart (2017)
What's His Face? (2018)
The Unteachables (2019)
Notorious (2019)
War Stories (2020)
Game On (contains The Chicken Doesn’t Skate and The Toilet Paper Tigers (2021)
Unplugged (2021)
Linked (2021)
Operation Do-Over (2022)
The Fort (2022)
The Super Teacher Project (2023)
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