UNPLUGGED by Gordon Korman

primarily marketed for: Middle Grades

Unplugged by Gordon Korman overflows with humor, action, and heart. If you are a Korman fan, this is a perfect addition to your collection. If you are new to Korman, this will be the perfect gateway book. Jett Baranov is the son of a Silicon Valley tech genius. To call him spoiled would be a massive understatement. After a particularly risky stunt, from which his dad had to bail him out, Jett has been sent to spend a rehabilitative summer at the Oasis with his father's right hand man as a caretaker.

At the Oasis, Jett is forced to exist completely unplugged from the devices, social media, and entertainment he has come to rely on. Instead, he is invited to meditate, eat healthy, and relax in natural hot springs.

Of course, Jett is much more interested in finding a way out of the Oasis than he is in participating in any wellness activities. However, as the summer unfolds, Jett becomes entangled in a deception involving other kids at the Oasis, which leads him to a big mystery. Jett discovers what the Oasis is really about, but with all of the crazy pranks he has pulled, will anyone believe him?

In true Korman fashion, readers are drawn into the hearts and minds of multiple characters to explore what health, responsible living, and friendship really mean.

This will be a definite addition to my classroom library. Thanks to Harper Collins Publishers and NetGalley for a free, temporary digital review copy of the book.

Comments

ONE FOR THE MURPHYS by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (5 th grade and up) I sort of expected One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt to be one of those overly sappy books with unrealistic, sickeningly sweet characters. However, although the storyline might make it sound sappy, the characters are realistic and dynamic. After a traumatic incident that lands both she and her mother in the hospital, Carley Connors is taken away and placed in foster care with the Murphy family. The only life Carley has known is one of put-downs, food scraps, and shopping for clothes in Salvation Army drop boxes. Until she meets the Murphys. The Murphys are too good to be true: Julia, the mom, happily makes home-cooked meals for her three boys and firefighting, sports-loving husband. In fact, Julia isn’t even rattled by Carley’s rough around the edges attitude. At first, Carley despises the Murphys and the way they make he...

THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

copyright date: 1943 primarily marketed for: everyone The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint- Exupéry was a reread for me. I read this book for the first time when I was in high school. All I remembered about it was that I expected it to be too complex for me to understand, and I was surprised when at its charming simplicity. I always remember feeling like I had a special place in my heart for The Little Prince , but I didn’t remember exactly why. It was written so long ago and is translated from French that it is no wonder I first expected to find its meaning elusive. However, I am sure that if you pick up this book, it will nestle itself into a special place in your heart as well. Simply, The Little Prince is the story of a clever man who has never lost the child inside of himself and finds himself stranded in the desert after a plan crash. In the desert, he happens upon the little prince who is traveling to earth from his d...

ALL THESE THINGS I’VE DONE by Gabrielle Zevin

copyright date: September 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (8 th grade and up) I wish I would’ve known this was the beginning of a series before I started this book. Then again, I might never have picked it up if I thought I might be committing to multiple books… At any rate, this is not a story I will be sad to return to this fall when the sequel is released. Anya’s story takes place in New York City, in the future. Around the time you will be old enough to be grandparents. This is a sort of post-apocalyptic, dystopian kind of book in a mild way. Basically, the United States has self-destructed, and yet life seems to go surprisingly similar to the way we live nowadays. Except that water and paper are costly and hard to come by. Chocolate is prohibited. Caffeine is an illegal drug. Which is all to say that the setting alone is intriguing. Add to that setting, the fact that Anya is the oldest daughter of the ...

Ms Rush Reads

Search This Blog