Book Reviews and More: Sleepless

Sleepless
Gordon Korman
Scholastic
ISBN 9781546126119

eISBN 9781546126126

ASIN B0FK1HWG4L

I started reading Gordon Korman books with my son in 2019. That first one was a gift from a teacher at the end of the school year. Each student received a copy with a personal note, after we finished reading Restart, my son and I each picked the other books by him I picked up the eBooks, and we planned to work through them all. Last year I finished reading all of the published book by Korman, and have plans to go back and reread a few of them. My son still has about 30 of the 111 to go. But we were both excited about this new title that released in 2026. This was Korman’s latest release published in the summer of 2026.

But back to this specific volume; Sleepless like many volumes by Korman is told is a series of first-person narratives from different characters perspectives. The chapters in this volume are:

One: Mickey Prima

Two: Skye Berenger

Three: Levi Mackenzie

Four: Mickey Prima

Five: Cyrus Teitelbaum

Six: Thea Davidson

Seven: Mickey Prima

Eight: Skye Berenger

Nine: Mickey Prima

Ten: Levi Mackenzie

Eleven: Cyrus Teitelbaum

Twelve: Thea Davidson

Thirteen: Mickey Prima

Fourteen: Levi Mackenzie

Fifteen: Skye Berenger

Sixteen: Mickey Prima

Seventeen: Levi Mackenzie

Eighteen: Mickey Prima

Nineteen: Thea Davidson

Twenty: Cyrus Teitelbaum

Twenty-One: Skye Berenger

Twenty-Two: Mickey Prima

Twenty-Three: Cyrus Teitelbaum

Twenty-Four: Thea Davidson

Twenty-Five: Mickey Prima

Twenty-Six: Skye Berenger

Twenty-Seven: Mickey Prima

Twenty-Eight: Cyrus Teitelbaum

Twenty-Nine: Mickey Prima

Epilogue: Thea Davidson

About The Author We Are Informed:

“GORDON KORMAN wrote his first novel, This Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall, when he was thirteen years old. Since then, he’s written over a hundred other books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Restart; Linked, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book; Slacker; Mixed Up; Faker; and Snoop. He lives on Long Island with his family and can be found online at site.”

The description of the volume states:

“From the #1 bestselling author of RESTART, the story of five kids who are up all night every night... and desperate to find out why.There's not enough time in the day.How often have Mickey, Skye, Levi, Cyrus, and Thea thought that?Well, now they have plenty of extra time... because they no longer need to sleep.None of them know why this is happening to them. All they know is that they have to keep it a secret from their families and their friends. And while they keep it a secret, they can use their extra hours to become better than everyone else.Each of them thinks they're alone in their sleeplessness. But once they find each other, they know it can't be just an accident. Suddenly they're forced to keeping them awake at night?”

This was an excellent story. It reminded me of a character from the 1985 movie ‘Real Genius’. There is a character Jordan Cochran played by Michelle Meyrink, who is a nonsomniac, she never sleeps. She is eccentric, fast-talking prodigy with a hyperactive personality and has the ability to function perfectly without any rest. In this story a group of kids experience the same thing but artificially. I had always hopped to develop it, there are so many books to be read. But after reading this volume, it is a little less appealing.

It was fascinating to read how each of the youths discovered they could not sleep, and how they choose to fill their time. Some turned to sports, some the arts, some focused on academics and some invention. As they slowly realized that they were not alone and discovered each other their questions only grew. As they try and figure out what makes them different they make a discovery and it changes everything.

This is another wonderfully written story by Korman. I absolutely loved it, and have already recommended it to my son, and my nephew, and some friend’s kids. All I can say is wow what a story! I can easily recommend it.

Books by Gordon Korman:

MacDonald Hall Series:

This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (1978)

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)