Thursday, 23 January 2025

The Twinkie Squad - Gordon Korman

The Twinkie Squad
Gordon Korman
ISBN 9780590452502
ISBN 9780590452496

The Twinkie Squad - Gordon Korman

I am now over half way through the masterful pen of Gordon Korman. As of the writing of this review he has 104 books in print and 2 more announced for this year (2025). My son who is 16 still loves his books, my daughter in 13 picks and chooses, but I am trying to work my way through his complete catalogue, in my 50’s. I am just about completed the stand-alones and just have to finish his series. A few of which have been out of print for a while.  

Most of the titles by Korman I have read, I read over the last 7 year. I had read a few back in 2009 when the 39 Clues first came out. I do not recall reading any when I was young, but with my dual form of dyslexia I did not read many Children’s or Middle Grade books. It was only later I learned to really read. In many ways this volume really hit home for me. 

My son and I started reading Gordon Korman books together six years ago, when he was given one as an end of year gift by his teacher. She gave the whole class the same Scholastic edition and wrote a note to each student in their copy of the book.

When reading Korman books; some he reads to me, some we use adaptive technology and listen to in the car, and some I just read on my own. This one I read on my own when off work for holidays.

The description of this book states:

“Douglas Fairchild, a sixth-grade writer and dreamer thrown out of every school he has ever been to, transforms a group of excluded misfits into the hottest clique in school. Reprint. SLJ. VY.”

The description of the audio book states:

“Once again Douglas Fairchild is starting a new school in Washington, D.C. The teachers in the private schools he has attended didn’t understand him - maybe because he is from Pefkakia. Now he will make a fresh start in sixth grade at Thaddeus G. Little, a public middle school. After telling the bus driver how to drive and refusing to do his homework, Doug finds himself in the worst possible situation. He must join the after hours discussion group for misfits, better known as the Twinkie Squad. Everyone has always made fun of the Twinkies, but Doug is about to change all that.”

I have a dual form of dyslexia. I failed grade 1, was tested and they did not find anything. I was really struggling in grade 2 and my teacher pushed for me to be tested again, and they found the dyslexia. I did testing ever few years for the next 2 decades to keep up special needs status through public school, high school, and even my time at both Queen’s University and the University of Waterloo. At the end of grade school I was told I would never graduate secondary school, I graduated and had all my credits early. I did even better in university especially my second time. So what the Twinkies went through I can relate to. I went from being the youngest kid my first time in grade 1 to the oldest and biggest in the class. I had to leave class for special ed. It was not after school like in this volume. Now because I played sports like Commando, so I did not experience the bullying portrayed in the book. But lots of kids did and I saw and to be honest occasionally did it. I really wish I had been able to read when I was in grade school because books like this really help us see others in a different light. 

According to Goodreads there are 8 editions of this book, as of the writing of this review. The original publisher was Scholastic, in 1984 (when I was 14) and the most recent was in 1995 with an audiobook edition in 2011. To date there has not been an eBook edition of this story.

This was one of those Korman stories that has some great laughs. But also a deep insight into human nature. It delves into the cliques at school, and the interactions across the social strata. In many ways it reminds me of Arthur Slade’s Tribes, someone looking at the world differently. In this case Douglas is hanging onto something that makes him different because he has a lot to stack up against. His friendship with Commando is fascinating and fun to watch develop. And The way he pulls the Twinkies out of their shells and forms them into a team is awesome to read as it transpires over the course of the book.  

I could so easily relate too much in this volume. This was another fantastic and fun story and one that I easily recommend. It is another great Middle Grade read from Korman! I absolutely loved it.

Books by Gordon Korman:
MacDonald Hall Series:
         (formerly The War With Mr. Wizzle)
The Zucchini Warriors (1988)
Light’s Camera, Disaster (1991)
          (aka Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood)
The Jokes on Us (1995)
          (formerly Something Fishy at Macdonald Hall)

Bugs Potter Series:

Jeremy Bloom Series:
The D−Poems of Jeremy Bloom (1992)
The Last-Place Sports Poems of Jeremy Bloom (1996)

Monday Night Football Series:
The Quarterback Exchange (1997)
Running Back Conversion (1997)
Super Bowl Switch (1997)
Heavy Artillery (1997)
Ultimate Scoring Machine (1998)
NFL Rules! Bloopers, Pranks, Upsets, and Touchdowns (1998)

Masterminds Series:
Masterminds (2015)

Slapshots Series:
The Stars From Mars (1999)
All-Mars All-Stars/The Dream Team (1999)
The Face-off Phony (2000)
Cup Crazy (2000)
Ouch I got slapped (2023)
4-in-1 Slapshots: The Complete Collection (2008)

Nose Pickers Series:
Nose Pickers from Outer Space! (1999)
Planet of the Nose Pickers (2000)
Your Mummy Is a Nose Picker (2000)
Invasion of the Nose Pickers (2001)
4-in-1 The Ultimate Nose-Picker Collection (2006)

Island Series:
Shipwreck (2001)
Survival (2001)
Escape (2001)
3-in-1 Island Trilogy Collection (2006)

Son of the Mob Series:
Son of the Mob 2: Hollywood Hustle (2004)

Everest Series:
The Contest (2002)
The Climb (2002)
The Summit (2002)
Everest Trilogy Box Set (2002)

Dive Series:
The Discovery (2003)
The Deep (2003)
The Danger (2003)

On the Run Series:
The Stowaway Solution (2005)
Public Enemies (2005)
Hunting the Hunter (2006)

Kidnapped Series:
The Search (2006)
The Rescue (2006)

Swindle Series:
Swindle (2008)
Zoobreak (2009)
Framed (2010)
Showoff (2012)
Hideout (2013)
Jackpot (2014)
Unleashed (2015)
Jingle (2016)

Titanic Series:
Unsinkable (2011)
Collision Course (2011)
S.O.S (2011)

The 39 Clues Series:
Vespers Rising (2011)
The Medusa Plot (2011)
Flashpoint (2014)

Hypnotists Series:
The Hypnotists (2013)
Memory Maze (2014)
The Dragonfly Effect (2015)

Ungifted Series:
Ungifted (2012)
Supergifted (2018)

Slacker Series:
Slacker (2016)
Level 13 (2019)
...

Non Series Books:
The Chicken Doesn't Skate (1996)
No More Dead Dogs (2000)
Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America (2003)
Jake, Reinvented (2003)
Born To Rock (2006)
Schooled (2007)
Pop (2009)
Restart (2017)
Notorious (2019)
War Stories (2020)
Game On (contains The Chicken Doesn’t Skate and The Toilet Paper Tigers (2021)
Unplugged (2021)
Linked (2021)
The Fort (2022)
Mixed Up (2023)
Slugfest (2024)
Faker (2024)
Old School (2025)
Snoop (2025)

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