After a summer hiatus, Barrie Summy’s amazing book review blow-out is back. Check out all the other reviews here or click the icon at the end of this entry.

And now, without further ado …

Ever since I read my first Gordon Korman book (No More Dead Dogs), it’s no secret that I love him. When the ARC of his latest, Ungifted, was dangled before my eyes, I pretty much grabbed it before the dangler could change her mind. I inhaled it in a single gulp. And now, months later – now that the book is recently out – I’m still smiling at Donovan Curtis and his “poor impulse control.”

Donovan doesn’t meant to knock the globe off the Atlas statue, have it gather speed and torpedo into his school gym. But it happens. So does something else. In a mix-up of epic school proportions, Donovan avoids punishment. Instead, he finds himself transferred to and in hiding at the gifted school. What starts is a tale of two buildings – the haves and have nots – becomes a full and rich story of how even geniuses have much to learn from the kid who throws darts at his sister’s pool float to test her swimming skills.

I’d like to share so many bits from the book – the naming of the robot, the Human Development requirement, school dance clothes – but each strand goes so much deeper than its surface story that the whole is infinitely more rewarding than its parts. Ungifted? Not at all. This book offers so very many wonderful gifts.