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Gordon Korman

Vespers Rising (The 39 Clues) Review

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Amy and Dan thought that when the clue hunt was over they could relax and be normal kids again. They thought that when they beat the vicious Isabel Kabra and secured the serum, things were going to be better.

So did we.

But Scholastic wanted more money.

For those who don’t know, The 39 Clues is a multi-author series in which Amy and Dan Cahill are surprised to learn that they are members of the most powerful family in human history. The source of their families power is hidden throughout the world in the form of 39 special clues. Unfortunately, their family members are also after the clues, and they’re willing to kill to get them. This is a great series for kids.

Learn more about The 39 Clues.

Even though The 39 Clues was originally supposed to be only ten books, they have kept the series running due to the success. I was pretty excited at the time that there would be another series because I just absolutely loved it.

The new series has to do with a rival family to the Cahills known as the Vespers. The Vespers are pure evil and will stop at nothing to steal the clues (and some other secret stuff) from Amy and Dan.

This book bridges the gap between the clue hunt and the fight against the Vespers.

Summary

The way this book is written is that it’s split up into four parts. As the series was multi-author, they also made this book multi-author. The first section is written by Rick Riordan, the second by Peter Lerangis, the third by Gordon Korman, and the last by Jude Watson.

The different authors travel through time and reveal different things about the Cahill family. It’s interesting to learn more about old secrets we’ve been wondering about for the whole series.

Riordan opens the book by telling us about what really happened at the time of Gideon Cahill. We learn about the Vesper founder, Damien Vesper, how Gideon’s kids got the clues, and what really happened when his lab was burned. We also learn about the mysterious ring.

The next story, written by Peter Lerangis, tells us about Madeleine Cahill, the founder of the Madrigal branch. Not many people know it, but Gideon and Olivia Cahill had a fifth kid named Madeleine. Madeleine was taught by Olivia to try to bring the warring family together. This is very well written and it tells us a cool story about how the Madrigal branch and the M started.

In the third section, written by Gordon Korman, we track the movements of young Grace Cahill. Grace realizes that the Vesper’s have stolen the ring from her father, James Cahill, and goes on a mission to Casablanca to recover it. Grace manages to get a pilot to take her there encounters George S. Patton. Patton tells her about the Vespers, but later learns that he may have tricked her. But Grace isn’t about to let the ring fall into the wrong hands.

Finally, Jude Watson takes us back to the present with Amy and Dan. They have returned home and are trying to start a normal life. However, they learn of the ring and are told that Grace wanted them to protect it. Amy starts wearing it, but soon after they are attacked while on the way to school. Luckily Amy knows jiujitsu, but the message is clear; the Cahill family better get ready for perhaps their toughest battle yet.

Review

This book is really good and interesting. I enjoyed learning secrets that I had wondered about for the two years since the series started, and also having the story moved forward. The adventures are very exciting.

If you haven’t read The 39 Clues, yet, though, then don’t read this book. This is a transition book for people who have already finished all ten books in the clue hunt series and are looking to tie up loose ends as they move on to the fight with the Vespers. Otherwise I’d recommend just starting with the first book of the current arc.

For obsessed clue hunters, however, this is a great book. After it they’ll be obsessed Vesper hunters 🙂

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The Readers and Writers Paradise Podcast Episode 003: Swindle Series by Gordon Korman

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Hey guys thank you so much for coming on to my website. Today (like every Wednesday) I have a new episode of The Readers and Writers Paradise Podcast to share with you. On the podcast I have all kinds of information about books, interviews with authors and book reviewers, and more.

In this episode I’m really excited to share with you my review of the books in the Swindle Series by Gordon Korman. Long-time readers of my blog know that Gordon Korman is probably my favorite kids book author and the Swindle Series is also one of my favorites. I go over all the information about the series in this podcast, so let me know what you think of this episode 🙂

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The 39 Clues Book 8: The Emperor’s Code by Gordon Korman Review

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Note: This article was originally written almost four years ago.

Yesterday, March 6th, 2010, was a big day for the readers here on The Readers and Writers Paradise: Book 8 of The 39 Clues, The Emperor’s Code was released! I was especially excited for this book, because it was written by Gordon Korman, who is, as most of you probably know by now, my favorite author.

And I have to say this was by far my favorite book in the series as of right now. In a live webcast back on December 2nd, 2008 (seems like it was just yesterday), Gordon said that with the series being multi-author, with everyone’s creativity piling up on top of each other, by the eighth or ninth book, it would be awesome.

Certainly, his predication came true. As for writing style, this book was clearly written in a different writing style than his other books (I know; I’ve read all of them). It wasn’t just Korman writing the book; the writing style of Rick all the way back from September 2008 is still showing in this piece.

I really love the writing style—I think it’s the perfect way to write The 39 Clues series. I don’t really like book three or seven, because of the writing style of Peter Lerangis, but really everyone else has followed suite from Rick and Gordon back in the first and second books.

The plot? Well, at the end of the seventh book, Amy and Dan discover the secret of their family branch: Madrigal. As you can expect, much of the book is centered around that topic.

First, Amy, Dan, and Nellie travel to China in search of the old Janus clue (yep, Jonah Wizard makes his long awaited rebirth into the series). In the Forbidden City, Dan finds a sheet with an equation of the different branch symbols in bottles added together equals the Cahill symbol, along with a Chinese message that later proved important.

Unfortunately, Amy starts voicing her thoughts that maybe their parents deserved to die, and Dan storms off. Then, he is captured by the Kabra children, Ian and Natalie. They dump him in a pile of trash, where he is found by Jonah.

Jonah claims he’s making phone calls to Amy and Nellie and trying to track them down. However, when Amy and Nellie ask him if Dan is with him, he lies and says he isn’t, and was never making calls. When Dan meets Jonah’s mom, Cora Wizard (the leader of the Janus branch), it becomes apparent that the Wizard family is just trying to use him. They even claim Dan is from the Janus branch! Unfortunately, that prompts Dan to respond with the following:

“Janus? I’m no Janus! I know exactly what branch I am!”

“I’m a Madrigal!”

The well-kept secret of who the Madrigals are is finally out, and people will be hunting Amy and Dan down even more.

Dan flees and leaves a message for Amy and Nellie. He did not give a location, as he would have to keep moving. Both decide the next clue is on Mount Everest, and meet each other in the hanger of a plane specially designed to go to the top of Everest. At first, the pilot refuses to take him, but Nellie puts her “boss” on the phone to talk to the pilot, who suddenly agrees to take them.

Nellie later claims it’s her uncle; obviously not true. They also see Nellie pick a lock with masterful skill, and we get to see part of a phone conversation between her and her boss. In her thoughts, she also reveals she has a secret objective. Amy and Dan are once again doubting her more and more.

When they get to the top of Everest, they see that Eisenhower Holt and Ian are already near the top. Amy grabs the vial containing the clue at the peak, but it slips from her hand, as she tries to grab it, she realizes that Ian is about to fall two miles into death. Instead of saving the clue, she saves Ian. Luckily, it was hidden in the secret Chinese message:

“That which you seek, you hold in your hand,
Fixed forever in birth,
Where the Earth meets the sky.”

Because the paper they are holding is made out of silk, the first line means it’s silk. Fixed forever in birth means it’s frozen, which means its raw silkworm secretion, and where the earth meets the sky means it’s hidden on Mount Everest.

Dan also finds an impression of Anne Bonny, a famous woman pirate in the Caribbean. This tells them that’s where the next clue is located.

The secret code in this book is made from the coded letters:

“Madrigals are behind everything. They lay out the path the others will walk. The end is coming.”

What I make from that is the Madrigal’s plant the clues and leads for others to find, and obviously that the contest is coming to an end. There are numerous examples of the Madrigal’s making leads, such as Nellie “accidentally” placing them into secrets (she’s obviously not from one of the four branches, the way they talk about her), and at the beginning of book eight, the Man In Black making sure Amy and Dan saw a certain movie which showed the Janus crest at their next destination. They certainly are the most powerful.

To be honest, The Emperor’s Code was sort of like a filler; not as much as books two, three and four, because we at least got some info from this book, and not quite as much as book six, but more like book five. Certainly this book sets the stage for the outbreak of the series that we know is happening in books nine and ten. I hope to see you on the hunt.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also like my Facebook Page or enter your email below to get more book reviews.

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Ungifted by Gordon Korman Review

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My favorite childhood author was Gordon Korman. So it was interesting to read one of his most recent books Ungifted, now that I’ve passed the phase of passionate attachment towards his books. And I must admit I liked it.

Summary

Ungifted is about a troublemaking 7th grader named Donovan Curtis. He’s the type of kid who does things like rolling expensive bronze globe’s through glass doors. In fact, it’s that very action that gets him in trouble with the Superintendent of Schools when it accidentally wipes down a multi-million dollar statue in the middle of a basketball game, wiping out use of the gym totally and costing the district an exorbitant amount of money.

The Superintendent is furious and intends to give him serious consequences; something Donovan and his family can’t afford right now, with his sister pregnant and her husband in a dangerous war overseas. But somehow it gets mixed up, and instead of his name being put down for big trouble, it gets put on the list of new gifted students.

This is great: Donovan avoids trouble and gets to go to a school which has many advantages over his own, such as being kept in much better shape, encouraging students to have laptops and cellphones during school, and soft talks instead of getting in trouble. One problem: Donovan is ungifted.

The book is about Donovan’s adventures towards the class, which are quite entertaining. It is told in the first person, and each chapter switches the narrator, whether it be Donovan, his teachers, classmates, or sister. This is a good format for a book like this, and can’t help but remind me of No More Dead Dogs, although this book is not quite as funny.

Although Donovan does not quite fit in at first, he soon forms a close bond with many of the interesting characters in his school, including a kid with a 200+ IQ who wants to be in a normal school (Noah Youkilis) and a genius who takes a liking towards towards Donovan because he’s “normal” (Chloe Garfinkle). Some of his escapades include introducing Noah to YouTube and becoming star robotics driver for the Robotics Team, a fact which makes everyone greatly attached to him and wishing greatly for him not to be in trouble.

But he becomes even more valuable when he convinces his pregnant sister to teach a class on Human Growth and Development (saving everyone from summer school) by letting them touch and hear her stomach, talk about her experiences, do many tests on her, go to the doctor with her, and even be waiting outside during her giving birth.

You can’t please everyone, though, and a serious girl named Abigail Lee hates Donovan. She doesn’t think he belongs in the gifted program, nor do most other people. His homeroom teacher advises him to take a retest to get into the gifted program. He has to work hard just to get passable grades in his classes. Yet somehow he manages to pass the test. Or does someone else help him? Will the Superintendent eventually catch up to him? What will happen to the robotics team? What will his punishment be, and what will happen to his family?

Review

The book is 280 pages long, but written in a very easy style and easy to blow through. It took me about a day and a half to read it. Although I did like it, it’s a little below my age grade at this point, but it was still enjoyable. I recently read another one of his books, and that seemed a little more mature. This book would probably be good for people 4th to 7th grade.

The book is funny, but not quite as funny as we’ve come to except from Korman. It’s not really an action/adventure book, but much of it is still exciting and the narrative flows well. There is a lot of character development, and the book is really centered around an impulsive kid, which can be of intrigue.

I liked reading about some of the gifted students, and I’d like more into that subject, although I understand why he didn’t in this book. For some reason I like Korman’s modeling of those students, to the extent I feel he did it better than in the famous book Millicent Minn: Girl Genius.

I wonder if a side effect of the book is to make people feel better about not being gifted, as well as be somewhat in awe towards the main character of the book. Some parents may be concerned it would have a negative impact towards their kids, but I don’t think so. The main character is a good kid and likable, too; it’s not like he’s a jerk-he just gets into trouble sometimes.

Towards adults and older kids, I wouldn’t recommend the book, but for tweens and a little younger it will be a good read. This is more of the style of the old Gordon Korman, but puts some of the past decade or so into it as well.

The main things I like about the book is the storytelling, plot, and characters. It could be a little more exciting, and I’d like for it to have a bit more humor, but overall it’s another good book worth reading.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also like my Facebook Page or enter your email below to get more book reviews.

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Pop by Gordon Korman Review

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We’ve all heard of the stories of people who have Alzheimer’s, or maybe we even know someone who has it. We’ve also all heard the talk about how dangerous the NFL is becoming, how past players are now suffering from Alzheimer’s.

In Pop, Gordon Korman explores this theme of football players getting Alzheimer’s through the eyes of a boy named Marcus, a kid who just moved into a new town. Before long he meets a man named Charlie (aka the “King of Pop”), an ex-NFL linebacker who has Alzheimer’s.

Charlie gets worse and worse since Marcus knows him, and before long he loses all reality whatsoever. He imagines things as though they were decades ago, and has no knowledge of the present world. His condition is very sad, and this book does not have a happy ending.

Summary

When Marcus moves into a new town with his divorced mother, things don’t go quite as well as he had hoped. Although Marcus was the starting quarterback at his last high school, the school in his new town has already won the state championship two years in a row and has no need for a new player.

Marcus ends up practicing on his own, and it is not long before he runs into an unknown middle-aged man. He hits extremely hard, and at first Marcus doesn’t like it, but as time goes on he learns to enjoy the contact, the “pop.”

Things are strange about this man, however. Whenever Marcus tries to schedule a meeting with him, he waits for hours and the man doesn’t show up. And other times the man accuses him of being late even though it wasn’t the agreed upon time.

Meanwhile, Marcus is having a competition with Troy, the starting quarterback of the football team. He even has a brief romance with Alyssa, who is usually Troy’s boyfriend.

After some digging, Marcus learns that the friend he’s been playing with is Charlie Popovich, a former NFL linebacker who is the celebrity of the town! Marcus also discovers that Charlie is Troy’s dad.

Other strange things start happening. Charlie begins to call Marcus “Mac,” apparently an old friend of his, and acts as though he’s still a kid. Marcus knows that something isn’t right, and he discovers that Charlie has Alzheimer’s, something his family is trying very hard to keep a secret.

Of course, there can’t be a Korman book without an exciting story. There is a college hall of fame induction for Charlie, but he doesn’t even know what’s going on. His family doesn’t want him to go, but Marcus has a feeling that he’ll have a great memory of the times that happened decades ago.

Will Charlie get to experience the joy of his old college days again? Will his old friend Mac come out again? Most importantly, will Charlie survive?

Review

Korman normally says he writes books that kids would want to read, period. This book is clearly written as education about the rough condition of Alzheimer’s. It is very sad, but also very true, and it makes you feel great compassion for Charlie.

I have a family member who currently has Alzheimer’s and it’s very hard for all of us. I do feel I understand it better having read this book, but this is not at all meant to a factual presentation of the disease; for that you’ll have to look elsewhere. This story merely follows its impact on one man.

I almost want to cry thinking about the book now. Yet there are happy times in it, as well, and even the hardest moments are mixed with happiness. This is not a depressing book, but more of a reflective one. Still, I’d talk to your child about Alzheimer’s and how they feel about it if you’re planning to have them read the book.

Would I recommend it? Yes, it’s a very powerful book. Probably Korman’s most powerful in several years.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also like my Facebook Page or enter your email below to get more book reviews.

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This Can’t be Happening at MacDonald Hall by Gordon Korman Review

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When twelve year-old Gordon Korman didn’t have an English teacher to teach his seventh grade English class, the school had no choice but to have a gym teacher put the reading and writing hat on. As Korman said, “When it came to writing he just sort of blanked, so he said, ‘Just work on whatever you want for the rest of the year.’ And I wrote my first book.”

It is such a crazy and inspiring. Twelve year-old Korman going crazy on a homework assignment and writing his first book, This Can’t be Happening at MacDonald Hall. Now remember, this wasn’t modern day where children authors are fairly common and most of them are self-published. The G-Man sent in his manuscript to the address on the Scholastic book order form, and the day after his thirteenth birthday he signed a contract for his first book.

But here, I’ll let Korman tell you himself (the first part of the movie is about his journey as a kids author. The second part is about his recent book Swindle):

Isn’t that so amazing? The thing is that it’s not like this book is a slacker, either. It’s actually quite good, already showing the humorous style of Korman that everyone loves.

Summary

At the beginning of the story we are introduced to the main characters, Bruno and Boots, two roommates at the boarding school MacDonald Hall who are “partners in crime,” playing all kinds of funny pranks. We see some of their hilarious escapades, including going over to the girls school and hanging out with Diane and Cathy.

Unfortunately, however, the headmaster of their school, Mr. Sturgeon (also known as “The Fish“) decides that their trouble making has come to point of being detrimental to both them and the rest of the school. He switches their rooms, making Bruno the roommate of Elmer Drysdale, the eccentric school genius, and Boots the roommate of George Wexford-Smyth III, a weird guy who is obsessed with money and the stock market.

Bruno and Boots attempt to get themselves back together into the same room, but all of their plans backfire. In the end, a series of improbable events take place that make Bruno and Boots heroes. They are congratulated by an important government official, but will their headmaster congratulate them by giving them what they really want; having each other as roommates again?

Review

It’s hard to believe that Korman really wrote this book at twelve. Many of the jokes in this book are quite funny, hilarious even. It’s written in a very different style than his current books, which are mainly based on action. Korman’s earlier books (and all the MacDonald Hall) books are based on humor.

The characters in this book are very familiar and it’s easy to connect with them. I still remember and feel for all the lovable characters in this series. It’s like a happy world that is no less real than this one.

The only way that you can tell Korman was twelve when he wrote this book is the fact that it’s only 144 pages. In those 144 pages, however, is a story of very great depth and enjoyment.

This book also opens the way for a great series. The books only get better and better and climax with The Zucchini Warriors and Beware the Fish, the latter of which is the funniest book I have ever read.

These books are super easy to read. The great thing about Korman’s writing is that he doesn’t write his books to prove a point, not for book committees or reviewers. He writes books to be enjoyed, period. Reading MacDonald Hall you feel a great happiness and joy for life.

As much as Korman’s current books are great, I know old fans of Korman’s classic stories who think that his new books pale in comparison. While they are both good in different ways, I have to agree that there is no better way to guarantee yourself you’ll be laughing up a storm than reading MacDonald Hall.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also like my Facebook page or subscribe through email below to hear about more awesome books.

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