Son of the Mob (Son of the Mob (Paperback))
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 2004)
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Editorial Review

Vince Luca, 17, has a problem. His wealthy family runs the, uh, vendingmachine business in New York, and Vince is determined not to be part of it.Especially after a hot date is ruined when he finds that his older brother Tommyhas conducted some business with Jimmy the Rat and hidden the messy andtemporarily unconscious body in the trunk of Vince's car. His dad, the King ofthe Mob, is reasonable, sensible, lots of fun, gives great presents to hiskids--and his name strikes the hearts of other mobsters to stone.

Although Vince keeps a low profile at school, his family connection brings himunwanted advantages, like the birthday Porsche that gets him arrested on stolenvehicle charges, or the football game in which he makes touchdown aftertouchdown because word has gotten around and nobody is willing to tackle him.Even private conversations at home have to be carried on in the basement becausethe FBI has bugged the house and an agent is always listening. Vince's life isinextricably tangled up with the family business, no matter how hard he tries tostay out of it. How can he show them he's serious? Then he meets Kendra, andwhen she innocently reveals that her father's an FBI agent--that FBIagent--it's a match made in heaven. He thinks.

Gordon Korman, author of (No MoreDead Dogs) and over 30 other witty YA novels, is at his best in thisSopranos-style spoof about a teen's home life with the Mob. (Ages 12 andolder) --Patty Campbell ... Read more

Reviews (73)

Son of the Mob
Ages 15 to 18. 17 year old Vince Luca is the average teenager, unmotivated, argues with his family, and has a best friend, Alex. There is one thing that makes his life a little different though; his father is the king of a New York crime organization. Vince refuses to become a part of the family business, and wants nothing to do with it. But the business always seems to come into the picture and mess things up, he can't even play football because everyone is afraid of his father and won't touch him. Vince ends up falling in love with Kendra Bightly. Kendra happens to be the daughter of an FBI agent, and not just any agent, it is the one who is monitoring the Luca Household and trying to put Vince's father behind bars. Vince also tries to help to con-men that owe his father money, and rescue them from the wrath of his father. Kendra finds out, and thinks that Vince is a loan shark for his father and breaks up with him. Vince ends up discovering that Ray, his fathers' employee, is an FBI informant that is in his fathers' business. He lets Ray go and convinces his father to leave Ray alone. When Ray is leaving he talks to Kendra and explains to her that Vince was only helping the men and is not a lone shark. Vince regains Kendra's affection, and also stands up to his father which gains him his respect.

Full of suspense and action Son of the Mob an amazing book that will keep you on the edge of your seat, there is not a dull moment throughout the entire book. It is also very easy to relate to for teenagers due to the fact that the main character is 17 and the book is set in modern time.

son of the mob
I thought that this book was very good. Iit was about a 17 year old boy who is a normal kid except one thing his dad runs the mob.He also has fallen in love with a girl named kendra whos father just happen to be the FBI agent who is trying to put Abe Luca who is the mob boss.

Lindsay's Review
Ages 13 and up.Vince Luca, the son of Anthony Luca explaines what it is like to have a father as the biggest mob boss in:"The Son of the Mob." By Gordom Korman. Since Vince's father is a gangster, kids at school look at Vince in a different light. Vince's only real friend is Alex. Alex is always trying to hook Vince up with different girls. When Alex actually find a girl that Vince actually likes, it is hard for them to date. Kendra, the girl Alex set Vince up with is the daughter of the police man that is after Vince's dad. Vince never tells kendra who is father is untill the end of the book. The moral of this story is that, you cant change your family, and to not be ashamed of them. This is what Vince learns in the book, but he learns it the hard way. This book was full of excitement. There was never a dull moment. Gordon Korman made this book The Son of the Mob a very interesting book, that i'm sure everyone will enjoy. ... Read more

Isbn: 0786815930
Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Family - General    4. Fiction    5. Humorous Stories    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Law & Crime    8. Love & Romance    9. Organized crime    10. Social Situations - Adolescence    11. Social Situations - General    12. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Jake, Reinvented
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 September, 2003)
list price: $15.99 -- our price: $10.87
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Reviews (13)

Story draws you in
(BTW, I'm 15 years old. Going under the title of "A Kid's Review" is the easiest way to write one.)

This book was a gift to me from Gordon Korman when I won the Promising Young Talent Award in the Power of the Pen competition in Ohio, which included some 7,000 kids and 24,000 essays.

I read this book with great anticipation in a short span of time, which was easy because the book is fairly short. I really enjoyed it and it drew me in quickly. The teen atmosphere and dialogue was very real. Most of the characters were very three dimensional and the whole layout of the story was interesting enough to keep me glued to the pages. The writing is faced paced, fluid, and sprinkled with humor and wit. Still, the story is very serious and slighlty dark compared to many Gordan Korman novels. When I had finished it, I was very satisfied and would reccomend it to anyone who is at least in highshcool.

A realistic view of an adolescent
The book is about some kids that go out of control. A dork goes to the limit to get the hottest girl in high school. The events turn and he is thrown away from the only chance that he has of rising in popularity when he gets too greedy.

This book would be good for people 13-106 (if you can still read by the time you are 106). The book goes in a fast and exciting pace. The plot is well developed and it comes to a tragic ending.

Favorite Book
This is one of--if not possibly the best book I have read.. I think it would make a great movie. I loved how Korman portrated the party teen and the teen dialogue is right on. A job well done! 5 stars. ... Read more

Isbn: 078681957X
Sales Rank: 335348
Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Conduct of life    4. Fiction    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Korman, Gordon    7. Peer pressure    8. Self-perception    9. Social Situations - Adolescence    10. Social Situations - Friendship    11. Social Situations - General    12. Social acceptance    13. Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / Adolescence   

No More Dead Dogs
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 October, 2002)
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Reviews (59)

This would make a great classroom production
This book was great when I listened to it on tape.I enjoyed it so much that I began reading it aloud to my 5th grade class.That was a mistake.The book is in 5 or so different points of view and it's difficult to read this aloud, unless several people are reading the book.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend anyone to read it, but if you do it as a read-aloud make sure to have the kids listen to it as a book on tape/cd or with several different experienced readers.Also be aware that the word "jackass" makes an appearance in the book several times, and that tends to cause a lot of snickering in class.

no more dead dogs good book
I liked this book it was pretty good I liked for its unique way of doing a boring nothing into a great somthing and it had football players in it. it was a bit of everything myster action plays ect. I dont normally read books (I dont like them) but this I read straight on. I liked alot but I would recomned it to a younger somebody out there mabey 10.

Yay!
I lovd this book! I've read it so many times, the spine of my book is breaking! Peace out man! ... Read more

Isbn: 0786816015
Sales Rank: 11508
Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Fiction    4. Football    5. General    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Schools    8. Social Situations - Adolescence    9. Theater    10. Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / Adolescence   

Maxx Comedy : The Funniest Kid in America
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 June, 2003)
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Reviews (2)

Maxx Comedy
A very disappointing book. I was looking forward to lots of laughs but all I got was lots of groans!!! Plot is very lame and the events are simply weird. Don't buy before reading!

Re: Maxx Comedy
GREAT BOOK!Its about a kid (Max Carmody)who wants to be a stand up comic and when he sees a poster for a contest for The Funniest Kid in America he has to sign up and for him it all goes down hill from there.
For me it all goes up hill from there.The problems this kid faces is hilarious and with hilarious results.Good read for the plane!Another Gordon Korman book which was great!I loved No More Dead Dogs.Great book and I love his name he changes it to, Maxx Comedy!
This should spawn a sequel or maybe two, but man is this a good book. ... Read more

Isbn: 0786807466
Sales Rank: 234780
Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - General    2. Children: Grades 4-6    3. Comedians    4. Contests    5. Fiction    6. General    7. Humorous Stories    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Performing Arts - General    10. Schools    11. Stepfamilies    12. Juvenile Fiction / Humorous Stories   

Stargirl
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (14 May, 2002)
list price: $8.95 -- our price: $8.05
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Editorial Review

"She was homeschooling gone amok." "She was an alien." "Her parents werecircus acrobats." These are only a few of the theories concocted to explainStargirl Caraway, a new 10th grader at Arizona's Mica Area High School who wearspioneer dresses and kimonos to school, strums a ukulele in the cafeteria, laughswhen there are no jokes, and dances when there is no music. The whole school, not exactly a"hotbed of nonconformity," is stunned by her, including our 16-year-old narratorLeo Borlock: "She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was thefaintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl."

In time, incredulity gives way to out-and-out adoration as the student bodyfinds itself helpless to resist Stargirl's wide-eyed charm, pure-spiritedfriendliness, and penchant for celebrating the achievements of others. In theultimate high school symbol of acceptance, she is even recruited as acheerleader. Popularity, of course, is a fragile and fleeting state, and bit bybit, Mica sours on their new idol. Why is Stargirl showing up at the funerals ofstrangers? Worse, why does she cheer for the opposing basketball teams? Thegrowing hostility comes to a head when she is verbally flogged by resentfulstudents on Leo's televised Hot Seat show in an episode that is tooterrible to air. While the playful, chin-held-high Stargirl seems impervious tothe shunning that ensues, Leo, who is in the throes of first love (and thereforescornfully deemed "Starboy"), is not made of such strong stuff: "I became angry.I resented having to choose. I refused to choose. I imagined my life without herand without them, and I didn't like it either way."

Jerry Spinelli, author of Newbery Medalist Maniac Magee, Newbery HonorBook Wringer, and manyother excellent books for teens, elegantly and accurately captures thecollective, not-always-pretty emotions of a high school microcosm in whichindividuality is pitted against conformity. Spinelli's Stargirl is asupernatural teen character--absolutely egoless, altruistic, in touch withlife's primitive rhythms, meditative, untouched by popular culture, andsupremely self-confident. It is the sensitive Leo whom readers will relate to ashe grapples with who she is, who he is, who they are together as Stargirl andStarboy, and indeed, what it means to be a human being on a planet that is richwith wonders. (Ages 10 to 14) --Karin Snelson ... Read more

Reviews (589)

Learn about school culture
Middle and high school are difficult times for kids.There are dozens of "cliques" based on clothing styles and personal interests like sports, music, and academics.Stargirl is a new girl at a small, suburban high school.She plays music in the cafeteria, wears odd clothing, and looks nature. She is not only rejected but persecuted.In one chapter kids throw tomatoes at her on the basketball court. Even kids who appreciate her individuality reject her after she becomes the school's scapegoat. The novel Stargirl closely examines school culture, and how the social rules effect all involved. It shows us how kids are forced to conform and what happens when someone is rejected and humilated.

One of a Kind
'Stargirl' is an intreguing read, one that is asked to be read over and over again. It is about a girl, the outcast transfer-student, that wants to life her life as independant teenage girl. She doesn't care about what other people think - she doesn't have to. She becomes so popular for what she does, how kin-hearted and independant she is. Then, she meets the love of her life, Leo. They life happy together, having fun at the mall and in the desert, 'Enchanted Places', and then is the big game.She cheers for the other team, and everything goes amok. The school turns against her, don't want to accept her, and she doens't know what to do.Leo, struggling so that her actions don't affect HIS reputation, he asks her to be the one thing that she doesn't know to be - "normal".

She attempts - still, they don't accept her. This story is a whole-hearted novel that should be read by all teenagers. It teaches them to accept all kinds. It hurts more than it seems, to lose all of those, what do you call it, "hallway" friends. The ones that you say hi to in the hall during the same passing period evry day, but aren't close enough with the to hang outside of school with. To lose being said "hi" to every day in the hallways, then it all just, disappears.

Stargirl
Ages 14 and up
Protaganist Leo finds out theres a new girl in school and she is totally crazy, at least to the students of Mica High School. She is very different then everyone, she does get accepted by the student body. She is even recruited on the cheerleading squad, but after showing up at a strangers funeral and even cheering fot the opposing team she loses it all. With all the hatred growing she is verbally punished by recentful students.

Basically Stargirl is a storie about a guy seeing that differences is not always bad. This book is suited for those living in the drama of high school life. ... Read more

Isbn: 037582233X
Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Eccentrics and eccentricities    4. Fiction    5. Individuality    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Popularity    8. School & Education    9. Social Situations - Adolescence    10. Social Situations - Peer Pressure    11. Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / Adolescence   

Wringer (Trophy Newbery)
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (30 August, 1998)
list price: $6.50 -- our price: $6.50
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Editorial Review

Newbery Medal-winning author Jerry Spinelli tells a story of peer pressure so foul, so horrifying, that Wringer should be shelved along with Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War. Nine-year-old Palmer dreads his upcoming 10th birthday. In his town, when boys are 10 years old they become "wringers," the boys who wring the necks of wounded pigeons at the annual Pigeon Day shoot. Palmer is sickened by the whole event. To make matters worse, his new buddies--Beans, Mutto, and Henry--have just discovered that Palmer has been hiding a pet pigeon in his room. What will Palmer do? Will he become a wringer to save face, or will he follow his heart? Wringer will appeal to preteens and younger teens who love to read suspenseful books on their own, but it would also be a good story to read aloud to spark discussion about the perils and nuances of peer pressure. ... Read more

Reviews (220)

Powerful
My mom got me this book and I didn't think that it looked that good, but I'm glad that I read it. I finished reading WRINGER in 5 hours on the way back home from Florida to California. I couldn't stop reading this book. Reccomended to all.

Wringer
I thought it was so great with its words and how the auther put it . I see what happened to this kid and what he went through. The story tought me so many leasons that I can't tell you every thing,so all I have to say go and read this book.

Wring it! Wring it! Wring it!

He did not want to be a wringer. The story I am reading is called Wringer by Jerry Spinelli. The conflict in my story is that there is a day called Pigeon Day and on Pigeon Day they let pigeons fly in the air, then they have people shoot them. But one pigeon escaped and flew to Palmer's window and started pecking on it and never left him alone.
The reason my story is called Wringer is because in the story on Pigeon Day, when the guys are shooting the pigeons there are people going around and wringing the necks of the pigeons that are wounded. The main character in my book is named Palmer. He has a hard time with his life because there are kids that pick on him, but he thinks they are just joking around. Then he is stressed out because he doesn't want to be a wringer, but his father wants him to be because his father got a reward that says, "Sharpshooter Award Pigeon Day 1989."
I think this book is good for young adults because it is a long book and has a lot of meanings to it. It gives you a good image of what might or will happen to you in your life. So read this book; I promise it will be good!
... Read more

Isbn: 0064405788
Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Literature - Classics / Contemporary    2. Children: Grades 4-6    3. Classics    4. Courage    5. Fiction    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Pigeons    8. Social Situations - Peer Pressure    9. Social Situations - Violence    10. Violence    11. Juvenile Fiction / Classics    12. Reading Group Guide