Slacker

Title:

Slacker

Author:

Summary:

When eighth-grader Cameron Boxer creates the Positive Action Group at school he intends it as a diversion to fool his parents, teachers, and sister into letting him continue to concentrate on his video-gaming--but before he knows it other kids are taking it seriously, and soon he finds himself president of the P.A.G., and involved in community service, so the boy who never cared about anything is now the center of everything, whether he likes it or not.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

230 pages ; 22 cm

Subject Term:

Social action -- Juvenile fiction.

Video games -- Juvenile fiction.

Responsibility -- Juvenile fiction.

Siblings -- Juvenile fiction.

Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

Middle schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Publisher:

Scholastic Press,

Publication Date:

2016

ISBN:

9780545823159

Publication Information:

New York : Scholastic Press, 2016.

Call Number:

J KORMAN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003152066	Juvenile Fiction	KORMAN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

From the bestselling author of Swindle and Ungifted comes the funny, fantastic story of an underachiever who ends up achieving much more than any overachiever could ever imagine.Cameron Boxer is very happy to spend his life avoiding homework, hanging out with his friends, and gaming for hours in his basement. It's not too hard for him to get away with it . . . until he gets so caught up in one game that he almost lets his house burn down around him. Oops.It's time for some serious damage control--so Cameron and his friends invent a fake school club that will make it seem like they're doing good deeds instead of slacking off. The problem? Some kids think the club is real--and Cameron is stuck being president.Soon Cameron is part of a mission to save a beaver named Elvis from certain extinction. Along the way, he makes some new friends--and some powerful new enemies. The guy who never cared about anything is now at the center of everything . . . and it's going to take all his slacker skills to win this round.

Author Notes

Gordon Korman was born in Montreal, Canada on October 23, 1963. When his 7th-grade English teacher told the class they could have 45 minutes a day for four months to work on a story of their choice, Korman began This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall. He was also the class monitor for the Scholastic TAB Book Club, so he sent his novel to the address on the TAB flyer, and a few days after his 14th birthday, he had a book contract with Scholastic.

By the time he graduated from high school, he had published five other novels and several articles for Canadian newspapers. He received a BFA degree from New York University with a major in Dramatic Writing and a minor in Film and TV. He has written over 75 books for children and young adults including the Swindle series, The Juvie Three, and two books of poetry written by the fictional character Jeremy Bloom.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-6-Thirteen-year-old Cameron Boxer's life revolves around video games. As a hard-core gamer, Cam has perfected his "lifestyle," maximizing screen time while minimizing his efforts to pay attention at school or at home. Focused on playing his favorite game one night, Cam doesn't hear his mother's instructions, leading to The Great Ziti Inferno, an incident that nearly burns down his house. Given an ultimatum by his frustrated parents to unplug and involve himself in something other than video games, Cam, along with his two best friends, creates the Positive Action Group, a fake after-school club that, before they know it, takes on a life of its own and becomes a force for good in the community. Suddenly, Cam has little time for games and finds his cultivated lifestyle as the world's greatest slacker isn't as important as he once believed it to be. Told from multiple perspectives, the story lends itself to a large-cast audio performance, and Jessica Almasy, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Christopher Gebauer, and Jonathan Todd Ross do not disappoint, infusing the characters and narrative with personality and humor. Almasy's portrayal of middle schooler Daphne Leibowitz and high school cheerleader Jennifer Del Rio, fervent do-gooders for different reasons, is spot-on; Todd Ross gives Cam's internal musings and slangy exultations the right balance of blasé and pep, making an initially obnoxious character much more likable. VERDICT Fans of Korman's middle grade romps won't be disappointed with his latest laugh-out-loud story. ["An excellent pick for reluctant readers": SLJ 3/16 review of the Scholastic book.]-Audrey Sumser, Akron-Summit County Public Library, OH © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this highly entertaining tale from Korman (Masterminds), eighth grader Cam Boxer lives for playing video games with his two best friends. When he ignores his mother's dinner instructions while playing, resulting in the fire department breaking down the door and a house that smells like burnt ziti, Cam's parents' threats of pulling the plug on his gaming push him to create a fictitious school club. Cam's goal with the Positive Action Group is to mollify his parents without actually doing anything, so he's horrified when students and faculty latch on to the concept and club. Cam's irritation with the club's popularity provides lots of laughs (" 'Well, I'm the president,' I grumbled, 'and I still say that the Positive Action Group doesn't exist' ") as the story unfolds via the perspectives of multiple amusing characters, including classmate Daphne, who wants to save a homeless beaver; Mr. Fanshaw, a guidance counselor who feels that his hour has finally come; and Jennifer, an ultra-achieving high school student who feels threatened by Cam's club's success. Upbeat, inspiring, and full of Korman's signature sense of humor. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.