Gordon Korman

An interesting one from Gordon Korman that got better as it went along. I did not warm to the main character at all until about three-quarters of the way through the book which did not help. This is the story of Jett who is the spoiled brat son of a Google-like inventor billionaire who is so starved for his parent's attention that he keeps acting out and breaking the rules and getting into all sorts of trouble. To set him on the straight and narrow, his father has his minder Matt drive him to the middle of Arkansas to a Wellness Retreat which has no internet and he must surrender all his electronic devices. To make matters worse, the food is all vegan and he must partake in yoga and meditation and everything he hates. Needless to say on Day 2, he breaks into the place where his Satellite phone was surrendered and uses it to order a hovercraft, a karaoke machine, a mountain of pizzas and burgers, fireworks and various other contraband stuff to be delivered to the Camp. The other young people in the camp either hate his guts or admire him. Tyrell is one of the latter. Grace on the other hand thinks he is pure evil and should embrace the spirit of the place. And then there is Brooklyne who seems to have secrets of her own to hide. The four of them discover a reptile they call Needles and even though pets aren't allowed, they decide to look after him secretly - Jett egging them on to steal a boat and go to the nearest town to use his credit card to buy meat for the creature ( and of course burgers for themselves.) Their dealings with Needles cause them to stumble across something not quite right with the Camp itself - the adults all seem to be under the spell of the second in charge meditation instructor Ivory. And when Jett ( ever the rule breaker) breaks into her cabin, he finds things not in line with the philosophy she is teaching. What is really going on at the camp? Who is Ivory? What sort of creature is Needles? Will Jett redeem himself?… (mer)

I love this book! I have read it so many times and I just finished re-reading it and it really holds up. I love the premise - two eighteen year old guys (one rather reluctantly) decide to become counsellors to six eleven year old campers on a trip across the United States. One of their campers keeps disappearing and we read about all his crazy money making schemes.
I love the tone of the book, the language the author uses just makes it feel very realistic and very funny. I absolutely loved reading about all of the really unique ways that Artie makes money. I loved all of the different campers and how they all had really unique personalities and quirks. It was great to see how they end up really bonding together.
I loved the director and how true it is that someone who hates kids and camping could end up doing something like this for their career.
I wouldn't recommend for really young kids just because the two counsellors are always looking for girls to hang out with, also there is one day when they talk a lot about luck and superstition.
Overall though I would really recommend this book for young teens and I think teen boys especially would enjoy it.
This book was reviewed on the Literary Club Podcast Season 2 episode 14
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1984185… (mer)

What happens when the worst teacher in the school meets the worst class? Mr Kermit has decided not to teach anymore after a cheating scandal that wasn't his fault. He just takes the roll, sits at the front of the room and does a crossword while the kids just do what they like. In Room 117, the kids are the "Unteachables", they have learning or language difficulties or problems at home and the school has neatly tucked them away in a back room together so the other teachers and classes can get on with their work and not be interrupted and get good grades. Into this class comes Kiana, who is new and instead of enrolling properly, just turns up to the class one day and keeps coming. (This will be a problem later) After Mr Kermit stands up for the class against the school principal, the class decide to help him out by stealing all the vuvuzelas that have been bought by the school to support the sports team. They also enter a Science competition and do much better than everyone expects.
A lovely story that teachers will enjoy as much as kids.… (mer)