GORDON KORMAN : Book Descriptions Interested in Some Fun and Adventurous Reading? Try Some Or All of Gordon Korman’S Books
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GORDON KORMAN : Book Descriptions Interested in some fun and adventurous reading? Try some or all of Gordon Korman’s books. See how many you can read before he arrives at our school on March 30 & 31, 2016. Most of his books are realistic fiction. Several of his standalone books are quite humorous but also have a valuable message. Many of his series are adventurous and quite suspenseful. Enjoy ! Section 1 Korman’s stand-alone books; considered appropriate for grades 5-8. Ungifted: Ungifted is a new title about a young struggling student troublemaker who is accidentally transferred to a school for highlygifted geniuslevel students. To say he doesn't fit in would be a severe understatement. But while Donovan Curtis in no way belongs, he does find things he can contribute. How long will it take for the school to realize he doesn't belong? How much trouble will he get in as they figure it out? And how many lives will he change in the process? These are hard questions to answer without reading the book. Thankfully, it is a fun read, so discovering these answers will be a joy. (Lexile 730) Schooled : Capricorn, 13, lives with his hippie grandmother on a farm commune. He's never been to school, never watched TV, and doesn't even own a phone. When Rain falls out of a tree whilepicking plums and is sent to rehab for several weeks, Cap stays with a social worker and is sent to the local junior high school. There he is introduced to iPods, cell phones, spit balls, and harassment. Cap, with his long frizzy hair, hemp shoes, and serene ignorance of everything most of the kids care about, is the dweebiest of the dweebs, and it's the custom at this school to elect such a kid to be eighthgrade class president (which offers extra humiliation opportunities). The story is told from multiple points of view, adding depth to even the most unsympathetic characters. Korman's humor is a mix of edgy and silly, the plot moves along at a steady pace. School Library Journal Korman's novel narrated by the good, the bad and the only slightly involved is his usual smart, funny, slightly skewed realism. Tweens will definitely identify and could view their grandparents in a whole new light. Ages 914 Kirkus Review (Lexile 740) No More Dead Dogs: Eighthgrade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as well. (Lexile 610) th The 6 Grade Nickname Game: Elevenyearold best friends Jeff and Wiley, who like to give nicknames to their classmates, try to find the right one for the new girl Cassandra, while adjusting to the football coach who has become their new teacher. (Lexile 640) POP: When Marcus Jordan moves to a new town over the summer, he doesn’t know a soul. While practicing football for impending tryouts, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a middleaged man. Charlie is a charismatic prankster – and also the best football player Marcus has ever seen. Marcus can’t believe his luck when he finds out that Charlie is actually Charlie Popovich, of “The King of Pop,” as he had been nicknamed during his career as an NFL linebacker. But that’s not all. There’s a secret about Charlie that his family is desperate to hide … (Lexile 740) Maxx Comedy—The Funniest Kid in America: Elevenyearold Max Carmody feels he has met his destiny when he sees an announcement for "The Funniest Kid in America" contest, but his quest to create a video that will get him into the running turns into a comedy of errors. (Lexile 770) The Chicken Doesn’t Skate Milo’s science project charts the growth of a baby chick, but he’s baffled by the rest of his class. They name the chick Henrietta. They sign up to take her home on weekends. They claim she’s a good luck charm, a friend, and the hockey team’s new mascot. But when they find out that Henrietta will be cooked and eaten at the science fair, the feathers really start to fly. (Lexile 710) he Toilet Paper Tigers: The FeatherSoft Tigers never imagined Little League could be so humiliating. Life is tough when your team sponsor is a bathroom tissue manufacturing company. Worse, the Tigers are awful! Forget about winning – they can’t even get a man on base. Enter Kristy Pendergast, the coach’s obnoxious granddaughter and a gigantic pain in the neck. But when Kristy takes over as coach, her crazy schemes pull the Tigers out of their slump and send them on the ultimate Cinderellastory winning streak. (Lexile 650) Radio Fifth Grade: All Benjy Driver ever wanted was for his school’s radio show to be a success. When he finds himself stuck with a talking parrot who won’t talk, a bully who hogs the airwaves, and way too much homework, he’s sure Kidsview is doomed. Instead, the ratings soar, and he and his cohosts have to come up with one scheme after another to keep their show on top, and themselves a step ahead of disaster. (Lexile 690) Liar Liar Pants on Fire: Zoe, an imaginative third grader, thinks that she has to make things up to be interesting, until a good friend and an eagle convince her that she does not have to lie to be special. (This one often appeals to a slightly younger audience) (Lexile 460) Section 2Korman’s series books; considered appropriate for grades 58. Masterminds (Book 1 of Korman’s NEWEST evolving trilogy) Eli Frieden lives in the most perfect town in the world: Serenity, New Mexico. Everyone has a great house, with a pool. Money problems and crime are unheard of. Honesty and integrity are valued above all else. The thirty kids who live there never lie. They know it’s a short leap from that to the awful problems of other, less fortunate places. Eli has never left Serenity … until, one day, he bikes to the edge of the city limits and something so crazy and unexpected happens that it changes everything. Eli convinces his friends to help him investigate further, and it soon becomes clear that nothing is as it seems in Serenity. The clues mount to reveal a shocking discovery, linking their ideal community to some of the greatest criminal masterminds ever known. (Lexile 730) COMING IN FEBRUARY 2016 MASTERMINDS: BOOK 2 Get ready for the next installment of my newest series. Follow Eli, Tori, Malik, and Amber as they try to discover the truth of their origins and carve a life for themselves in an outside world that is unfamiliar, baffling, and dangerous. But Project Osiris and its enforcers, the Purple People Eaters, are hot on their trail. They’re free for now. But for how long …? The Hypnotist trilogy The Hypnotist (Book 1) 12yearold Jackson Opus doesn’t know it, but he’s the most powerful natural hypnotist on earth. At first, Jax thinks his new talent is beyond awesome. How would you feel if you could make anybody do whatever you want them to? But the reality turns out to be a little more complicated. What will his remarkable abilities be used for? That’s the big question for Jax as his hypnotic gifts draw him into a conspiracy that has him racing against time to save his best friend, his parents, and the entire free world. (Lexile 750) Memory Maze (Book 2): The world’s most powerful mindbender is back! Jax and his family have escaped New York City, but are they really any safer in hiding? Strange things are happening, starting with an unbelievable invitation from one of the richest men on earth. Back in New York, hypnotists are mysteriously disappearing. Could it be the work of Dr. Elias Mako and his Sentia Institute? Or is something entirely different going on? (Lexile 780) The Dragonfly Effect: (Book 3): The thrilling conclusion of THE HYPNOTISTS trilogy. Jax has been recruited by the U.S. Army’s Hypnotic Warfare Research Department. But Dr. Elias Mako has escaped from prison, and this time he has a plan to use mesmeric power to bring the entire world to its knees. (Lexile 760) Swindle series (These books all have the same characters, but they actually can be read and enjoyed independently of one another.) Swindle: After unscrupulous collector S. Wendell Palamino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixthgrader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into Palomino's heavily guarded store and steal the card back, planning to use the money to finance his father's failing invention, the Smart Pick fruit picker. (Lexile 710) Zoobreak: After a class trip to a floating zoo where animals are mistreated and Savannah's missing pet monkey is found in a cage, Long Island sixthgrader Griffin Bing and his band of misfits plan a rescue. (Lexile 700) Framed: The Man with the Plan needs help from his friends at Cedarville Middle School to clear him of a crime he didn't commit. When a valuable Super Bowl ring goes missing, the principal is convinced that Griffin is involved, and the kids are convinced that Principal Egan is trying to pin the heist on them. It appears that Griffin has been framed, and each attempt to clear his name seems to get the friends in more trouble.