Jake, Reinvented

by Gordon Korman

Overview

There is a mysterious new student at Fitzgerald High, Jake Garret. He seems to have it all figured out. He looks like he just stepped off the cover of the J. Crew catalog, he is the best kicker the football team has ever had, and best of all, he hosts the party to go to every Friday night. All the guys want to be like him and all the girls want to date him, but Jake only has eyes for Didi, the girlfriend of alpha male and quarterback, Todd Buckley . As Jake's friend Rick gets to know him, he at first admires him, then starts to like him, but soon grows to fear for him as he learns Jake's dangerous secret. From beloved young adult author Gordon Korman, comes a new look at age-old themes about popularity, acceptance, and human nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423141136
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/02/2013
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	843,612
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Gordon Korman wrote his first book at age fourteen and since then has written more than eighty middle grade and teen novels. His favorites include the New York Times bestselling The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, Book One: The Medusa Plot; Ungifted; Pop; and Schooled. Gordon lives with his family on Long Island, New York. He invites you to visit him online at GordonKorman.com.

Editorial Reviews

Dedicated to "Jay and Daisy," Korman's (Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America) smart novel imagines The Great Gatsby with a cast of characters from Fitzgerald High. The Jay Gatsby figure is nerd turned bon vivant Jake Garrett; Daisy Buchanan has become Didi, the impossibly beautiful girl who is dating Todd Buckley (i.e., Tom Buchanan) despite his infidelities. Jake's weekly parties escalate in size and intensity, all part of his plan to get closer to Didi, whom he tutored in math several years before at a different school and has idealized ever since. In the midst of the banality and posturing of one keg party after another, two mature characters emerge: narrator Rick Paradis, who seems to not fit in with the crowd from the beginning, and the remarkable Dipsy, who starts off as comic relief but turns out to be perhaps the wisest person in the book: he alone understands that high school is, after all, just a few years, and that there is much more of life to come. Korman's prose hits its mark: a hung-over bunch of football players becomes "statuary in shoulder pads," the noise at a party rises "up to the point of pain" and the mournful hero is "unmade, not by fire, but by cold, smooth indifference." Unfortunately, a final chapter tacks on a happy ending and somewhat dulls the story's impact. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 9 Up-When Rick comes home from summer camp, he discovers that there is a new "it" guy in his high school-one who dresses straight out of J. Crew; is a great football player; and throws the party, complete with multiple kegs, on Friday nights. When Rick finally meets Jake, he discovers that he likes this hip fellow. He is stunned to find out that Jake once tutored Didi, the girlfriend of the quarterback and the most beautiful girl around, in math. When they start spending time together, the entire student body awaits the fallout. It turns out that Jake has given himself a whole new image and persona in his new school to win the approval of the school's most popular and completely superficial crowd simply to attract the attention of someone he loves. Korman's reworking of The Great Gatsby places the action in a modern framework, which makes it more recognizable for today's readers and may lead them to the classic. Teens will find deeper issues to consider about popularity, being true to one's self, and taking responsibility for one's actions as they relate to the setting and characters.-Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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