Gordon Korman

Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America by Gordon Korman Review

December 30, 2014 by Daniel Johnston Leave a Comment

By 2003 Gordon Korman was already transitioning into writing adventure books, but he certainly still had a lot jokes in him, and he had some more ideas to make readers laugh. The result was Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America.

Summary

Maxx Comedy is about a kid named Max Carmody who loves comedy so much he wants to go into it as a career. The only problem is that he’s not really that funny.

When he hears about a contest for the funniest kid in America, however, Max is psyched. He know he needs to go, and he makes his stepdad promise to take him there. First, however, he needs to ensure a spot in the thirty finalists by his audition tape. Of course, he enlists the help of his best friends, Maude, Big, and Syndi.

Each of them have their quirks: Syndi wants to be on the student council but is always making Amanda Locke mad. Big is huge and has some kind of a weird medical condition so he’s always humming out his nose. And Maude is a perpetual complainer, always happy to tell anybody who will listen that the worst stuff always happens to her.

The plot of the story goes crazy in a lot of directions, typical of Korman’s style at the time. Some of the things that happen include the purchase of an $85 pair of pants bought with stolen money that rips, a dog that is taken in by the kids’ class in an attempt to impress the student council and get on TV but gets exchanged with a panther, and a mooing sound that makes Max national news.

Review

Despite the fact that this has many of the aspects of a classic Korman comedy, it fails to live up to his standards, and is truthfully not a very impressive book. It reminds me a lot of Radio Fifth Grade, written a decade earlier, except that everything is wrong. Instead of a dedicated radiocaster like Benjy, we have Max who can barely tell a joke to save his life. Instead of a smart, practical girl like Ellen we have bumbling idiots like Maude and Syndi.

The characters in this book simply don’t make all that much sense, and it doesn’t add up. In classic Korman books like the MacDonald Hall series, we loved characters like Bruno, Cathy, and the Fish. In this book, there is no one to love. We don’t get to know the characters, and they are so either weird or surface level that doing so doesn’t seem possible.

I like that the plot is crazy and full of rollicking fun, but even the use of Korman’s classic scene at the end where everything comes together doesn’t do it for this book. Sure, some of the stuff is funny. But for most of the book the primary attitude is confusion. The characters and story are simply not identifiable and therefore we are relegated to observing the action from the vantage point of an observer who doesn’t really understand, instead of living it excitedly along with the characters like we have come to expect from this author. This book is nice, but if you’re looking for a Korman book there are much better options.

Beware the Fish! (MacDonald Hall Series) by Gordon Korman Review

November 23, 2014 by Daniel Johnston Leave a Comment

Beware the Fish! by Gordon Korman is without a doubt the funniest book I have ever read in my life. This book is incredibly good, especially considering it was published when Korman was just 17 years old.

It is the third book in the MacDonald Hall series, but they need not be read in order to understand them fully. The story takes place at the Canadian Boarding School, MacDonald Hall, and centers on Bruno and Boots, two roommates who are always stirring up excitement.

Summary

At the beginning of this book, weird things are happening at MacDonald Hall; they’re having to eat cheaper food, and Bruno and Boots have to move into a new room (with eccentric genius Elmer Drisdale) because one of the school dormitories’ is closing. The school is running out of money, and fast.

Bruno is of course not going to let the school go down without a fight. He starts trying to come up with crazy ways to save the school. They fAdd Newigure that if they can do something spectacular, then the school will get publicity and be resurrected.

Conspiring with the girls across the street at Miss Scrimmage’s Finishing School for Young Ladies (especially the crazy Cathy and roommate Diane), Bruno sets a number of absurd plans in motion. The school tries to collect 40,000 pop cans to build the biggest popcan pyramid in the world. They also try to cash in on many of Elmer’s inventions, including a remote controlled aircraft and a cure for the common cold.

Unfortunately, they are also being tailed my Miss Scrimmage, the headmistress of the girls’ school. She has a shotgun, and Bruno and Boots are constantly running from her when she discovers them “terrorizing” her girls. Although Mr. Sturgeon, the boys strict headmaster who has earned the nickname The Fish for his fishy glare, knows about what Bruno and Boots are doing, he is so mad at Miss Scrimmage for her antics that he falls for their lies to turn against her.

During this time, Bruno is broadcasting on a TV that Elmer has invented, using a fish in the background for his picture and saying inane things such as, “The Fish could descend at any time! Beware the fish!” Even though Bruno believes that what he is saying is only being broadcasted on his little screen, in fact it is disturbing television and appearing on screens all across the county! The police decide to investigate, and send out Agent Featherstone, who believes that The Fish is a dangerous terrorist, and goes to great lengths to stop his Fish Patrol missions.

At the end, everything eventually converges into a literal explosion. Will Bruno and Boots save the school? And if so, how?

Review

This book is so funny, I find myself in laughing fits every time I read it. Agent Featherstone’s investigation and the ultimate police presence at MacDonald Hall is just hilarious. All the characters in this book are vibrant and fresh, and I always feel really happy after reading this book.

I’d say it’s best for kids (especially boys) from the age range 7-13. The only thing you have to be careful about is to get a good edition. I have an original 1980’s copy, and you can find many of them for cheap on Amazon, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find one that is still in good shape now that the book is out of print.

Gordon Korman is one of my favorite authors, and this is definitely my favorite book of his. Trying reading this book without collapsing into laughter. I dare you.

Go Jump in the Pool! by Gordon Korman (MacDonald Hall)

November 23, 2014 by Daniel Johnston Leave a Comment

Go Jump in the Pool! is the second book in the MacDonald Hall series, started by Gordon Korman when he was just twelve years old. This book was published when Korman was just 16 years old, and is one of the funniest he has ever written!

Summary

At the beginning of the book, the MacDonald Hall swim team gets destroyed by their rivals from York Academy because MacDonald Hall doesn’t have a pool. Although Bruno and Boots (the main characters) are able to get back at the “turkeys,” trouble is starting mount. Although MacDonald Hall is the number one academic school, some parents are thinking of switching their kids over to York Academy; including Boots!

Of course Bruno isn’t going to have any of that. He immediately sets about trying to get a pool for their school. The only problem: It costs $25,000.

That doesn’t deter Bruno, though. He’s not about to let his best friends become turkeys. He sets out to raise the money, enlisting the help of their friends Cathy and Diane from Miss Scrimmage’s Finishing School for Young Ladies, which is across the road. Bruno comes out with ideas such as having a bake sale, a talent show, and trying to set a world record. However, $25,000 is hard to come by.

Review

This book is hilarious all the way throughout. Bruno and Cathy are awesome characters, and there is no telling what they are going to do next. Go Jump in the Pool! shows boys and girls of incredible determination and spirit trying to save themselves and their friends.

This book, like many of Korman’s (especially his early ones), is not exactly realistic; it is instead quite rollicking and crazy, but this is exactly the point. There is not one event in the book that you could call impossible; all of them could happen, it’s just that the likelihood is about a million to one. There aren’t a lot of books like that which tell stories that are quite unlikely and yet you believe they could be real.

Although $25,000 is a lot today, it’s interesting to think what it would have been in 1979 when this book was written. $25,000 back then would be worth $82,000 today, a pretty incredible sum.

Reading the first book is a good starter to this one, but the truth is that not reading it won’t hurt your enjoyment of this story at all. Nevertheless, once you read of these books you’ll definitely want to read all of them! They’re that good.

Everest by Gordon Korman Review

May 14, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 7 Comments

Gordon Korman has written so many good books that it’s always been hard for me to decide which one is my favorite. Sometimes I’d think it was Swindle, sometimes MacDonald Hall, and other times Everest.

Korman did three action trilogies (each book is about 150 pages, so they’re quick reads): Island, Dive, and Everest. In Island, a group of kids gets stuck on an island. In Dive, kids discover a conspiracy going on with an underground treasure. And in Everest, several kids try to peak Mount Everest. It is one of my favorite action works by Korman, and a gut-wrenching, exciting read.

Summary

The first book is called The Contest. That’s because a team of four kids are setting off to try to summit the highest peak in the world. They start out with a bunch of interesting kids, but in the end only four can remain.

Originally the plan was to take some of the more experienced climbers, along with Ethan Zaph, a sixteen year-old who is the youngest ever to peak Everest. However, Ethan joins another climbing team and they decide to take a risk and go with some younger people.

The main character of the story is thirteen year-old Dominic. Even though he’s small and his brother (not him) is renowned as a world-class climber, he is chosen to be a member of the four because of his inventiveness and hard work.

Tilt is another one of the four. Unfortunately, Tilt is very self-centered and a bully. It costs him later as he pays a very high price. Samantha is a fearless climber, and Perry’s uncle is rich and paying for the whole expedition. Cap is their expedition leader and naturally pushes the group very hard.

The second book is called The Climb. In this book we cover the challenges of getting from to base-camp, adjusting to the altitude, and all of that exciting stuff. Unfortunately, Dominic gets altitude sickness and very nearly misses the expedition.

There are also starting to be rivalries within the group, as Tilt is causing all sorts of problems. We learn that Perry doesn’t even actually want to climb, and much more.

Finally in The Summit, we get to see the teens make a push for the peak. This is by far the best book in the trilogy. It’s hard to say because so much happens, but basically there’s a small window they have where the weather is good enough to go for it…unfortunately, there’s a massive storm.

Things get crazy as Dominic and Tilt use their willpower to try to get to the top against all possible odds; including the government. Who will become the youngest person to summit Everest?

The very beginning of the series was a funeral. One of the climbers is going to die on Everest. There is only one question: Who?

Review

Like I said, Everest is great. Korman obviously put a lot of effort into writing this one, and it shines through loud and clear. The character development is not as good as in some of Korman’s other books, but combined with the intense action their adventures really hit hard.

Although Korman uses a lot of descriptive terminology about the climb, and though he explains a lot of the technical stuff, we really never get a very good picture of what climbing Everest would really be like. That’s okay though; it’s not the purpose of the book. I’d guess it would be pretty hard to get a good grasp on it without being an experienced climber yourself.

I would for sure recommend reading this book because the action and suspense is great, and the writing is just spectacular. It leads us into a new and exciting world up on the mountains the we can dream of, escape to, and feel with. Everest reaches the highest summit for boys aged nine to thirteen.

No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman Review

April 10, 2014 by Daniel Johnston Leave a Comment

Before becoming the adventure writer that we know him as now, Gordon Korman specialized in writing humor. One of his funniest books is No More Dead Dogs.

The concept in No More Dead Dogs is basically a story about a kid who refuses to tell a lie; to the point that it becomes ridiculous. It’s a hilarious and interesting concept that Korman says was based off of his dad.

Summary

Wallace Wallace is no great football player. He just had one lucky play; that’s all. But don’t try to tell that to his fans at Bedford Middle School.

In the championship game last year, Wallace happened to score the winning touchdown. He’s famous all over town, so people are upset when he’s not able to play his eighth grade year.

Why not? Because he’s serving constant detention.

Wallace’s teacher, Mr. Fogelman, asked him to write a review about the book Old Shep, My Pal. So Wallace did. Not only that, but he was honest. He said that in his belief, Old Shep, My Pal is a terrible book.

Mr. Fogelman tells Wallace he needs to write a proper review and praise the book, but Wallace refuses. Ever since he saw his parents fight about the lies his dad would constantly tell, he was never one to lie. Never.

In his daily detention, Wallace is forced to sit through the rehearsal of the school play. The play is-you guessed it-Old Shep, My Pal.

At first Wallace is just bored with the play, but before long he sees it as an opportunity to turn the play into something good and begins changing things. Soon, Wallace is the new director of the play and loving it.

Mr. Fogelman is at a complete loss of what to do. Not only has Wallace’s punishment turned into an enjoyable activity, but he’s managed to hijack the play!

Mr. Fogelman decides to let Wallace out of detention, after which Wallace quits the football team to continue working on the play.

Soon after that, however, things start to go wrong. Someone vandalizes the play. It’s not Wallace, but a lot of people think it’s him. Who is the culprit? Will they ruin the play? And, most importantly, will Shep survive at the end?

Review

This is an awesome and funny book. While definitely not the most funny of any of Korman’s books, the idea of someone refusing to tell any type of lie is very intriguing and Korman does a good job developing it.

Korman also writes this book so that each chapter has a different narrator, so we get to know all the characters really well. In addition to the people I already mentioned, there are Wallace’s friends on the football team, a girl named Rachel who at first hates Wallace but later comes around, and a girl named Trudi who has a crush on Wallace.

This is not a fast-paced book like Korman’s more recent works, but is instead a character based book as we visit the world of middle school through a fascinating lenses.

I wouldn’t recommend this book as a first choice for reluctant readers, but for kids around 10 to 13 who have already read Korman or have an interest in reading, this book is a sure-hit.

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The 39 Clues Cahills vs Vespers Book 1: The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman Review

March 24, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 1 Comment

When I first heard that The 39 Clues series was doing a reboot, I was pretty excited. After all, The 39 Clues is one of my all-time favorite series with some of my favorite authors and favorite characters.

For those of you who don’t know, The 39 Clues is a multi-author series which features two kids named Amy (14) and Dan (11). In the first series, they realize they are members of the most powerful family in the world. The source of their families power is hidden throughout the world in the form of thirty-nine special clues. The person to find all of them will be the most powerful person ever.

Of course, Amy and Dan aren’t the only ones looking for the clues. In an intense race all across the globe, Amy and Dan face up against ex-KGB agents and ruthless killers. When that was done, they thought they could relax…

Not quite.

Unfortunately there is another family known as the Vespers who also want the clues. And they’re smart; really smart. Amy and Dan are going to have to be at the top of their game if they’re going to outsmart the Vespers.

Click here to learn more about The 39 Clues.

Summary

Luckily, The Medusa Plot is written by my favorite kids author, Gordon Korman, so you know it’s going to be good. Unfortunately, a lot of Cahill’s are kidnapped by the Vespers, and Amy and Dan have to act fast to try to keep them alive.

The Vespers are run by a Council of Six. The highest up on the council is Vesper One, supposedly the evilest dude on the face of the earth. He gets in contact with Amy and Dan and texts them what they need to do to satisfy him.

A weird part of the book is that Amy and Dan are now two years older, and Amy is dating a boy named Evan. I don’t really like this at all, although the romance factor is certainly popular among a number of readers.

Vesper One sends Amy and Dan on a chase to Florence where they have to steal Caravaggio’s “Medusa” from the Uffizi museum. This isn’t an easy task at all because the museum is very heavily guarded with tons of high tech security.

Amy and Dan are not alone, however. The Vespers only captured seven Cahill’s, so Amy and Dan still have plenty of help, including Jonah, Hamilton, McIntyre, and even Ian Kabra. Even though Evan isn’t a Cahill (at least not that we know of), he is devoted to Amy and agrees to help out.

Even though Amy and Dan perform heroically in trying to steal the Caravaggio from the museum, it is not enough for Vesper One. Nellie gets shot, with a clear threat of death. Will Amy and Dan let the hostages die? Or will they make an even bigger mistake by being Vesper One’s perfect pawns?

Review

This is a really good introduction to the new series. I think this series is a good followup to the original (although nothing can match it) and will be very captivating for many kids.

The Vespers are a good addition to the series because, similar to the clue hunt, we are left scrambling to try to discover who the different Vespers might be. It keeps the mystery of the series going and leaves Amy and Dan having to fight a new and realistic villain.

As I said earlier, I don’t really think the romance with Evan is a good idea because later in the series it turns into a battle between Evan and another guy. Although a lot of clue hunters liked that, it is becomes somewhat reminiscent of the “modern” young adult books that I hate. I think a lot of girls like the romance, but a lot of boys will probably be turned off by it.

Even so, this is a really solid book. I expected so with Gordon Korman’s name on the cover, and he doesn’t disappoint. Amy and Dan go through a bunch of crazy adventures in this book and we even learn more about their characters. So yeah, it’s really good. This is a good place to start The 39 Clues series if you don’t want to go all the way back to the first book. Kids around seven to thirteen will love this book.

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