Jake, Reinvented. Gordon Korman. Markham, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2003. 213 pp., cloth, $22.99. ISBN 0-439-96933-6. Subject Headings: High schools-Juvenile fiction. Popularity-Juvenile fiction. Peer pressure-Juvenile fiction. Grades 7-10 / Ages 12-15. Review by Ann Ketcheson. ** /4

excerpt:

It was pure insanity. By one a.m., the place was so crowded I thought the walls would split open. A bunch of football players were doing jumping jacks in the backyard in the pouring rain just to prove they were tougher than Liberty, our week-one opponents.

Some wise guy must have taken control of the music, because the CD player was off. Now the speakers blared out Jake's dad's old vinyl Beach Boys records at 45 r.p.m. In all the craziness, it sounded kind of good, like Munchkins on a caffeine buzz. There were twice as many dancers as before.

It took the laws of physics to put an end to the festivities. Shortly after three, the keg began hacking up foam. And by that time, the last piece of pizza had either been eaten or mashed into the carpet. The party was over.

It didn't break up right away, though. There was still a lot to go. There were some huge battles over car keys, to keep them in the hands of people who were fit to drive. Couples who had found their way into secluded areas were reappearing, looking bedraggled and sheepish.

Newcomer Jake has taken over Fitz High. He's on the football team, has parties everyone wants an invitation to, and is also well-known by the local college kids. To be around Jake is to be part of the "in crowd," to be famous by association.

     But then questions arise. Who is Jake, really? And where has he come from? By the end of the novel, readers see a very different main character. Jake and those around him learn that people's actions may have very unexpected consequences. Like many teens, they see that the freedom of being a teen has its rewards but also its responsibilities.

     Korman fills his latest book with pages of parties and descriptions of football players. He describes the setting well, but it all seems rather unbelievable and superficial. Surely there is more than this to the average high school and the average teenager's life! There is a large cast of characters, but for this reviewer they never really came off the page. Very few are memorable.

     This is a modern retelling of The Great Gatsby, with similar themes of an obsession with popularity and acceptance. Young readers will perhaps enjoy it. Hopefully, they will go on to read F. Scott Fitzgerald at a later date to see a writer who handles the themes in a more talented way.

Recommended with reservations.

Ann Ketcheson is a former teacher of high school English and French and currently is the
teacher-librarian at Peterborough Collegiate in Peterborough, ON.

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