Author Highlight: Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman's books have been flying off the shelf lately, for good reason. He writes books for students in grades 4-8, but that are enjoyable for older readers as well. He also writes in a variety of genres, so his books have a wide appeal and can be found in different places in the library. 

Korman's books tend to focus on school issues, relationship struggles, learning differences and other real-life topics, but in a way that is completely appropriate for lower school students. 

Two of his books, Swindle and Unteachables have been featured in our Battle of the Books and Unteachables was a student favorite. 

Here's a photo of a few, although many others are checked out, so they couldn't be photographed. Pick up a copy today, but come quick before they're all gone! 

 

In the Junior Fiction section (for grades 3-5), we have:

Notorious - mystery

Told in different voices, on Centerlight Island, halfway between the United States and Canada, middle-schoolers Keenan and ZeeBee team up to seek gold rumored to be hidden there by a famous gangster.

Operation Do-Over - humor.

When he is magically transported back to the seventh grade before he and his best friend had a falling out, science nerd Mason gets a chance to stop the chain of events that made his previous life implode.

The Superteacher Project - science fiction. 

Oliver and Nathan, determined to get to the bottom of their new homeroom teacher's fishy behavior, discover Mr. Aidact is actually an AI robot from a secret experimental program.

Swindle - adventure.

After unscrupulous collector S. Wendell Palomino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader 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.

War Stories - historical fiction.

Twelve-year-old Trevor Firestone loves playing war-based video games and he idolizes his great-grandfather Jacob who came home from World War II a celebrated hero; now ninety-three Jacob wants to retrace his journey in memory and reality and return to the small French village that his unit liberated, and Trevor is going with him--but not everyone in the town want Jacob to come, and Trevor is going to learn an important lesson: real war is not a video game, and valor and heroism can be very murky concepts.

 

In Middle Grade Fiction (for grades 5-8), we have: 
 

The Fort - realistic fiction.

When a tight-knit group of middle school friends discover a trap door in the woods that leads to a completely intact bomb shelter, they vow to keep the place a secret while sharing their individual secrets to build the safest space possible.

Linked - mystery.

When swastikas begin appearing all over town, Link, Michael, and Dana, the only Jewish girl in town, must face crimes both past and present to find the truth.

Mixed Up - fantasy.

Twelve-year-olds Reef and Theo have a mutual problem: their memories are getting mixed up, and that means that Reef is losing his memory of his mother, recently dead of COVID, which terrifies him--but for Theo his new memories are helping him deal with his domineering father.

Old School - realistic fiction. 

Dexter has been homeschooled in his grandmother’s retirement community…until he is forced to go to public school. Dexter Foreman is twelve… going on eighty.

Re-start - realistic fiction.

Chase does not remember falling off the roof, in fact he does not remember anything about himself, and when he gets back to middle school he begins to learn who he was through the reactions of the other kids--trouble is, he really is not sure he likes the Chase that is being revealed, but can he take the opportunity amnesia has provided and restart his life?

Slugfest - realistic fiction. 

Forced to take Physical Education Equivalency, aka "Slugfest," in summer school so he can maintain his star spot on the JV football team, Yash recruits his fellow PE rejects to train with him and pass this course, an endeavor that turns into a summer he'll never forget.

Ungifted - realistic fiction. 

Due to an administrative mix-up, troublemaker Donovan Curtis is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a special program for gifted and talented students, after pulling a major prank at middle school.

Unplugged - realistic fiction. 

Relates, in multiple voices, the adventures of a group of youngsters at an electronics-free wellness camp where wealthy, spoiled Jett, leads other campers in trying to stop a criminal.

The Unteachables - realistic fiction.

The Unteachables never thought they'd find a teacher who had a worse attitude than they did. And Mr. Kermit never thought he would actually care about teaching again. Over the course of a school year, though, room 117 will experience mayhem, destruction--and maybe even a shot at redemption.

 

Library hours:
School days 8:00-16:00, except for Wednesdays when it's 8:00-15:00. 

 

Mrs. Tricia Fraser

tfraser@icsbudapest.org