September 20, 2007 at 3:06 pm · Filed under Books Etc
When he was twelve years old, Gordon Korman wrote his first novel. Less than two years later, in 1978, Scholastic had published it under the title This Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall. By the time he turned 21, in 1984 (coincidentally, the year I was born) Korman had nine published children’s novels under his belt.
Korman was one of my very favourite authors when I was young. No children’s author made me laugh the way he did—and it wasn’t just me. Every friend who’s read his books has found them hilarious. Even my mother thought they were funny (I can still remember reading a particular scene from the end of The Twinkie Squad (”blah blah blah“) aloud, and both of us laughing so hard we could barely breathe.) And they’ve stood the test of time: I still laughed at even No Coins, Please and I Want to Go Home, surely the most juvenile of his early works.
It’s strange to realize it, but I was very young when I read Korman’s books. The last book of his that I read as a child was The Toilet Paper Tigers, which I remember buying as soon as it was released, in 1993, when I was only nine. By then, I’d already devoured 12 of the 18 novels he’d already written. Among my favourites of his children’s novels are the first four Bruno and Boots books (This Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall, Go Jump in the Pool!, Beware the Fish!, The War with Mr. Wizzle), I Want to Go Home, and The Twinkie Squad. I also loved two of his YA novels, Don’t Care High and Son of Interflux. If you’re at all interested in children’s fiction, and particularly if you have a child about 6-9 years old, you should check out some of his books.
I was thinking about I Want to Go Home this afternoon. It’s one I found hysterically funny as a child. Mike Webster is “rewarded” for good grades by his parents by being sent to Camp Algonkian Island. No athlete, Mike is looking forward to a long, tedious summer when he meets fellow camper Rudy Miller. Rudy, straight-faced and sarcastic, manages to keep Mike in stitches while hatching progressively wilder schemes to escape from Camp Algonkian Island.
Today, I had an epiphany—I realized who Rudy Miller is. He’s Psmith! A modern-day, pre-teen, Canadian Psmith, it’s true, but despite those differenced (and the lack of a monacle) he is incredibly Psmith-like. He even has a sidekick called Mike. I would love to know whether Psmith inspired Rudy at all—I Want to Gome Home was published when Korman was eighteen, so it’s possible, I suppose. It would be awesome if he were, but even if he isn’t, it’s still a fun parallel to think about.
Tags: Gordon Korman, P.G. Wodehouse, Psmith
January 28, 2007 at 4:26 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Children's Literature, Favourite Books, Fiction and Literature
32. I Want to Go Home by Gordon Korman (children’s fiction, humour)
Another GK book I haven’t read in a very long time. I loved his books so much as a kid, and it’s a great comfort to discover that I enjoy them almost as much as an adult.
33. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (fiction)
This is the second book by Ishiguro that I’ve read, and it’s only confirmed that he is one of my favourite authors. In terms of genre, it’s akin to books like The Time Traveler’s Wife, in that it explores science fiction concepts without really fitting into the genre. A dystopian novel, I guess.
The story is narrated by Kathy, a former student at Hailsham boarding school. As she looks back on her time there and her life since leaving, she draws the reader deeper and deeper into her word, gradually revealing details about the society she lives in, and about the two greatest friends she had at Hailsham.
Books read: 33/300 (11%)
Pages read: 8,389/75,000 (11.2%)
Days passed: 28/365 (7.7%)
X-posted here.
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Gordon Korman, Kazuo Ishiguro
January 24, 2007 at 7:47 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Children's Literature
29. No Coins, Please by Gordon Korman (Children’s Fiction, Humour)
From the flap:
Rob and Dennis can’t say that nobody warned them about taking Artie on a cross-country camping trip. But when his mother tells them hat he shouldn’t be allowed too much ready cash, Rob and Dennis figure it’s because he usually spends it foolishly. Artie spends it, all right. But behind his innocent exterior lies a consummate hustler. He manages to transform his meagre seventy-five-dollar grubstake into a $150,000 fortune by the time his summer vacation is over….
Not one of my absolute favourites among Gordon Korman’s books, probably because neither Rob, Dennis, nor Artie are as endearing as some of his other characters. Still, it’s funny and entertaining; the quirky kids in the tour group are hilarious, and Artie’s moneymaking schemes are ingenious. Well worth the reread.
Books read: 29/50
Pages read: 7,483/15,000
When I signed up for the 50 Book Challenge community, I was pretty sure 50 books wasn’t going to be a challenge for me, since I read quickly and have plenty of free time. Still, I’d never bothered to keep track of my reading before, so I didn’t know what kind of goal would be challenging. I told myself I’d see how it went for a couple of weeks, and then set more realistic goals.
So, my new goal will be 300 books. At an average of 250 pages per book, that’s 75,000 pages. I have no idea if I can do this, but I guess that’s what makes it a challenge, right?
X-posted here.
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Gordon Korman
January 21, 2007 at 10:40 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Canadian Literature, Children's Literature, Non-fiction
23. The Zucchini Warriors by Gordon Korman (Children’s Fiction, Humour)
Fifth book in Gordon Korman’s Bruno and Boots series. Definitely not my favourite. Korman’s early works were his best; his later books, although still very funny, began to lose some of the magic of the early ones. I still enjoyed re-reading this, though.
Anyone looking for funny kids’ books should try some of Korman’s stuff: Go Jump in the Pool!, Beware the Fish!, I Want to Go Home, and The Twinkie Squad are all good places to start. Don’t Care High and Son of Interflux are YA Fiction, but just as funny.
24. Curse of the Narrows by Laura M. Mac Donald (Non-fiction, History)
On Thursday, December 6, 1917, at 9:05 a.m., a ship carrying a load of high explosives caught fire and exploded in Halifax Harbour. Killing 2,000 people and injuring 9,000 others, it was the largest artificial explosion in the world until the first atomic bomb test explosion in 1945. Halifax was completely devastated.
Well-written and interesting, this is closer to a novel than most works of non-fiction; the book follows the lives of many specific individuals, from the night before the explosion through the aftermath and recovery.
Curse of the Narrows provided a very clear explanation of how the collision between the ships Mont Blanc and Imo came to occur, as well as a good overview of the different types of explosives and explosions, and an outline of the specific causes of the explosion of the Mont Blanc.
The book also introduces some interesting side-issues to the main disaster, like the complications caused by the blizzard that began the day after the explosion, the politics involved in the medical response to the crisis, and the prejudice displayed towards the poor, the less respectable, the Black Haligonians, and the nearby Mi’kmaq villagers in the aftermath.
A really interesting read for anyone interested in history, particularly disasters.
Books read: 24/50
Pages read: 5,879/15,000
I’ve been inspired by Curse of the Narrows; does anyone know of any really good non-fiction about urban disasters of the last couple of centuries, like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the 1871 Chicago fire, or the 1919 Boston molasses disaster? No recent disasters, please - reading about historical catastrophes is hard enough.
X-posted here.
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Gordon Korman, Laura M. Mac Donald
