Gordon Korman

‘Snoop’ by Gordon Korman is a gripping middle grade tale

/ Pamela Kramer

Gordon Korman’s many middle grade novels are like juvenile addictions — kids can’t get enough of them. In fact, of all the book reviews I’ve written over the past decades, it’s Korman’s reviews that get the most views. They are beloved and popular for good reason. “Snoop,” his latest novel for middle grade readers, is no exception. Korman’s ability to combine a “normal” kid with circumstances that make him (or her) do the right thing, overcome obstacles, and help others, is brilliant.

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‘Faker’ by Gordon Korman presents an important moral lesson for middle grade readers

/ Pamela Kramer

It’s always a pleasure to review a book by Gordon Korman, and his latest, “Faker,” is no exception. Korman takes a concept and inserts really likable main characters who are in impossible situations. We really want things to go right, even if we can’t see how that could happen. But then Korman works his literary magic and, by the end, we are thrilled when our main character not only overcomes the problem, but emerges better, happier, and more centered in his world.

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‘The Fort” by Gordon Korman is a thoughtful middle grade novel about secrets and what we hide from even our best friends

/ Pamela Kramer

The Fort by Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman has been writing books for a long time—since he was twelve years old, in fact. As he explains in the Author’s Note, he wrote his first book in 7th grade as a fluke of an assignment. Scholastic published it two years later, and—luckily for middle grade readers and teachers— he’s been writing ever since. His books are always thoughtful, engaging and realistic. When kids read Korman’s books they see kids a lot like them: imperfect kids, kids with insecurity, kids who don’t fit in, and kids who are different.

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‘War Stories’ by Gordon Korman is a middle grade novel about war and war games

/ Pamela Kramer / Leave a comment

war stories

Gordon Korman’s books are among the most popular novels for middle grade readers. Kids love them. His “Swindle” series is addictive, and his stand alone novels like “Restart” and “Slacker” are thoughtful and humorous at the same time. “War Stories,” his newest middle grade novel, is thoughtful, but necessarily less humorous; it delves into a much more serious topic — war.

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‘Restart’ by Gordon Korman is fine middle grade fiction

/ Pamela Kramer / 1 Comment

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“Restart” by Gordon Korman is typical fabulous Korman middle grade fiction wherein a boy — usually in middle school — goes through an experience that changes him. In “Restart” Korman’s protagonist, Chase Ambrose, is a fairly dark character.

The reader learns that this middle school sports prodigy, a football player who has won awards, is also a terrible human being. He delights in bullying others. In fact, one fellow student has been so tormented by Chase and his two best friends that he’s left school and gone to a private school. Chase and his friends had set firecrackers to go off in the piano he was playing on during a concert.

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‘Slacker’ by Gordon Korman: Middle grade fiction

/ Pamela Kramer / 1 Comment

slacker

Rating: 4 stars

“Slacker” by Gordon Korman is much like some of Korman’s other books. The main character is a kid who will be familiar to most of us — child or adult. Cameron (Cam) Boxer is, just like the eponymous title, a slacker. He doesn’t care about school, he doesn’t care about extracurricular activities, he just cares about playing video games.

His goal is to play in the Rule the World competition where the winner walks away with $10,000. His family’s furniture store is losing business because of the new mall outside of town, and the downtown is in trouble. To make matters worse, the ramp off the highway is slated to close, meaning that even fewer people would bother to go shopping in their town rather than going to mall with its immediate access from the highway.

But Cam has more immediate concerns. After an especially intense gaming session where his house almost burns down (because he didn’t turn off the oven), his parents grow concerned about the time that Cam spends in the basement on the computer. Cam, as the reader very quickly realizes, is hooked on playing games. He sneaks into the bathroom at school to play, and he plays every waking minute when he isn’t forced to do something else. His two best friends play with him, and his biggest frustration when playing is his arch-nemesis, Evil McKillPeople, who beats him at every single game. Every single one.

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