Restart by Gordon Korman

     The title of my book is Restart, written by Gordon Korman. The genre of this book is realistic fiction and mystery, as all the events that take place in the story could happen in real life. The mystery portion of this book is proved when whole plot of the story is Chase trying to find out the mystery of how he lost his memory, and who he was before he lost his memory. In the exposition of the story, Chase learns that he lost his memory and bits about his life, such as the fact that he was one of the best football players in his school, and that he had two best friends: Aaron and Bear. From this part on, there will be SPOILERS, so scroll away if you don't want this book to be spoiled for you. When the rising action comes, Chase ends up going to his school that he went to before his injury. He begins to realize how much of a bully he was, and how many people were afraid of him. He befriends a victim of his bullying named Brendan, without learning that he ever bullied him. Through Brendan, he joins the film club, and meets Shoshanna. Shoshanna hates him due to the fact that he bullied their sibling to the point that they had to leave the school. Shoshanna and Brendan eventually trust the fact that Chase has changed due to his memory loss, and become friends with him. Everyday that Chase goes to school, he continues to have trouble remembering what happened before he lost his memory. He is forced to serve work at a nursing home, due to him getting in trouble prior to losing his memory, and at the nursing home he meets Julius. Chase soon figures out that Julius once had a medal of honor, but lost it. Chase is really intrigued by the medal of honor, and wants to find it. He and Shoshanna search for long periods of time with not a single sign of the medal anywhere. The climax of the story takes place when Chase is in his attic. In the climax, Chase accidentally finds the medal of honor in his attic, and looks to his neighbors house only to see a painting. The image on the painting was all he remembered about the day he lost his memory, and once he sees it his whole memory comes back to him. He remembers that he was the one who stole the medal, along with Aaron and Bear, and goes to the nursing home to return it to Julius. On his way, he's intercepted by Aaron and Bear, who try to prevent him from giving back the medal. Brendan and Shoshanna show up to the nursing home as well, and try to help Chase get the medal to Julius. Eventually all the kids end up in Julius' room, and Chase gives the medal to him. He explains to Julius and a nearby nurse that he stole the medal before he lost his memory. This causes the nearby nurse to turn Chase into the police. In the falling action, Chase is on trial for stealing the medal. He confesses to the judge, without telling the judge Aaron and Bear were involved in it. The judge is about to sentence him, but asks that if Chase can guarantee that there is no more of his old self left in him, that he can let him walk free. Chase thinks about the offer, and eventually denies it. The judge claims he's forced to sentence Chase. In the falling action, suddenly, Julius rolls into the court on his wheelchair. He lies, and tells the judge that no one ever stole his medal of honor, and that he had it the whole time. The judge, knowing that Chase has trouble remembering things, believes what Julius is saying, and lets Chase walk free. In the resolution, Chase thanks Julius for all that he's done. He apologizes to all the people he'd hurt prior to losing his memory, such as Julius, Shoshanna, and Brendan.
     My opinion of this book would be that I enjoyed it a lot, but there are a bunch of unique things in this book that may change your opinion of it. For example, similar to Wonder, the book is written in first person point of view, but from many different narrators. This may be confusing to some, but in my opinion I enjoyed seeing the different narrators’ thoughts on certain events. Also, if you are sensitive to the topic of bullying, I wouldn’t recommend this book to you as the main character used to be a bully. For example, Chase used to bully Brendan by pushing and shoving him in the halls. He'd also bully Shoshannas sibling by breaking her piano. To conclude, Restart is a great unique book, and if you aren't sensitive to bullying, like realistic fiction, or  enjoyed reading Wonder,  I would definitely recommend this book to you.
-Gabe S. Spicer Pd. 1-2