Unplugged

Twelve-year-old Jett Baranov, son of tech tycoon Vladimir Baranov, is taken to the Oasis meditation and health centre in rural Arkansas by his father’s assistant Matt for the summer after Jett’s pranks get him into too much trouble. There, he is forced to give up his Internet connection, eat vegetarian, and engage in meditation and exercise, all under the watchful eye of founder Magnus Fellini and meditation “pathfinder” Ivory Novis. Rebelling against the strictness of the centre, Jett and his new friends, Grace, Tyrell, and Brooklynne, adopt a small lizard that they name Needles as a pet. Desperate for meat to feed Needles, not to mention meat and candy for themselves, they steal the centre’s boat to travel to the nearest small town where they discover a huge mansion that they learn is a cover for an illegal alligator farm, one financed by donations to Oasis masterminded by Ivory Novis who uses hypnosis on the centre’s adult guests. The kids manage to use fireworks to free the alligators into the river and expose Ivory and her crew.

In his more than 90 books, Korman has absolutely mastered the formula for kid-centered rebellious adventure, not to mention capturing the social zeitgeist of the moment—here, it is the “unplug” movement practiced by real-life tech entrepreneurs on their own children. Korman’s characters are complex—Jett is a spoiled rich kid but develops genuine concern for Needles (a baby alligator, as it turns out); Tyrell is even-tempered and naïve but angered at Ivory’s abuse of his parents; Brooklynne, who turns out to be Magnus’ daughter, is a loner who learns she needs friends; Grace is an Oasis true believer, a rule-follower all her life who learns that not all adults can be trusted.

Again, in typical Korman fashion, that is the real theme: adults don’t know everything, not all of them can be trusted, and some are hiding nefarious motivations. In an age of fake news, conspiracy theories, and assaults on democracy, some might see this theme as wearing a little thin, especially coming from an author who has so extensively exploited it throughout his career. But there is no denying how compellingly and cleverly the plot unfolds, how easy it is to believe that there is more to this modern hippy commune than meets the eye. Korman also takes care to ensure that the benefits of eating well and unplugging are not diminished by the habits of some of its practitioners; the enemy here is the greedy (and, as it turns out, fake believer) Ivory, not the visionary and somewhat flaky Magnus. In contemporary America, where everyone can “do their own thing”, it would appear that only if that “thing” is illegal is it a real problem, and there is room for carnivores and candy-bar-munchers as well as strict vegetarians.

As often happens in stories like this, a few details stretch the story a little thin. Jett somehow has enough cash to buy raw meat for Needles and barbecue and candy bars for himself and his friends, which seems odd for a rich kid who otherwise buys online with his father’s credit. Their access to the centre’s launch boat is not unbelievable—Brooklynne, as Magnus’ daughter, knows where to find the keys and how to pilot it. But, if the reader wonders how they are fueling their multiple trips to town, only one mention is made of diesel refueling, and none of where the gas is coming from. Jett and Tyrell spy on Ivory’s office through an air duct, a bit of an odd piece of infrastructure to have in a wilderness meditation centre where window air-conditioners would more likely be the norm. And how does Jett, who lives in California, know immediately that farming alligators is illegal?

Again, none of these details detract heavily from the clue-dropping sense of completeness of the story. With narration passing between each of the kids and Matt, the picture the story draws is one where no character has all the pieces of the puzzle, and each is alone in their minor squabbles with the others. It seems a bit awkward that Brooklynne, who keeps her family status a secret to avoid being singled out by the guests, also doesn’t divulge this directly to readers until Jett finds it out on his own; yet she cleverly drops several clues in her part of the story about being careful not to be found out and keeping quiet whenever others complain about Magnus. An unreliable narrator, to be sure.

In true Korman form, his lead character has learned something by the end but has not completely reformed and retains cynicism about the adult world. Jett is baffled that Oasis guests, given the chance to leave with a full refund (in addition to being refunded their defrauded donations), all choose to remain, but he doesn’t fully dread the rest of the summer. What he does learn is the value of unplugging, of having a few friends, and even of keeping a pet: he plans on defying his father and getting a hamster. It goes to show that young people will always have minds of their own, and Korman will always know what they are thinking.