Teen Review: Restart

What if your memory was completely wiped?

You wouldn't remember anyone... you would have no memory of anything. Restart by Gordon Korman explores that possibility. Chase Ambrose, a football player and middle school bully falls off of his roof to wake up with no memories. Throughout the beginning of the story, Chase interacts with different characters. Some are happy that he's back, like his friends Aaron and Bear, some treat him like a legend, and others like Shoshanna, who poured frozen yogurt on his head, are mad at him. Even the principal talks to him about this being a clean slate in life. 

Chase's mom also hides many things about his past from him, like the fact that he was sentenced to community service. Previously, Chase set off cherry bombs during a piano performance, resulting in his arrest. Chase's reputation precedes him, but his new friends from the video club defend him and keep him out of trouble. Even with Chase's new position at the video club, people still mistrust him. Especially Shoshanna, whose brother Joel was the pianist terrified by the cherry bombs that were set off. Joel was forced to leave town after being targeted by Chase, Aaron and Bear for too long. Now stuck at a school for pianists, Joel is miserable.

Restart by Gordon Korman is an amazing book without any magic or supernatural elements: it's as realistic as realistic fiction gets. It shows characters that seem very realistic, such as Bear and Aaron, and showcases an everyday world with bullies. The story doesn't leave anything out, even showing the tedious aspects of the school day. Chase makes decisions, sometimes wrong ones, sometimes right ones. They seem like actual decisions that could be made in the real world, such as what club to join in school.

Chase has to decide to join in the bullying of innocent students, or to protect the students, saving them from injury. This book is captivating, and amazingly written. It never has boring parts, which is hard to not have, especially in realistic fiction. It perfectly portrays the loss of Chase's memories, and utilizes swapping points of view well, so you get to see the story from the eyes of other characters, like Shoshanna and Brendan. It shows the pain that Chase put many students through, and how he regrets that, even though he doesn't remember doing it. The new Chase regrets everything, while the old Chase regrets nothing. Chase really changed throughout the book, and the author showed it well. Restart by Gordon Korman, is a perfectly written, amazingly crafted story.

I would recommend this book to fans of the realistic fiction genre. This story takes realistic fiction, and increases the realism, to the point that it feels like it's real life, and not just a book.

Noah

Teen Content Creator