ROCKIN' READS: Restart

Restart
by Gordon Korman
Scholastic, 2017. Fiction, 243 p.
Chase wakes up in the hospital with no memory of the first 13 years of his life. People tell him that he fell from the roof of his house and hit his head, but he has no memory of that either. When he heals well enough to return to school, he begins to discover that he was a big-shot on campus, star of the football team with a close knit group of friends. He also discovers that he was not the model citizen and did some things that he now regrets. Now he needs to decide if he wants to reclaim his former status, or keep his new friends who are the very nerds he used to persecute.

This is and entertaining and thought provoking look at social hierarchy in middle school. It raises questions about what makes someone become a bully and how much people's personalities are the product of nature vs. nurture. As always, Korman includes funny moments too, so that even though this would be a rockin' choice for a book club or class reading, it is also a book kids will enjoy on their own.

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