At a glance
Pages243
First published2018
Settingcontemporary American middle school
AudienceMiddle grade (8-12)
ISBN1338053809
About the Author
Gordon Korman0 books reviewed
Restart
by Gordon Korman
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for: Middle-grade readers aged 10–12 — and their teachers or librarians — who want a character-driven story that tackles bullying and identity through multiple first-person perspectives, with enough emotional weight to fuel genuine classroom discussion.
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Restart is a character-driven middle-grade novel by Gordon Korman in which eighth-grade bully Chase Ambrose falls off a roof, wakes with no memory of his past, and faces the question of whether he wants to reclaim the person he was. The book's multi-narrator structure — giving genuine voice to Chase's victims alongside Chase himself — elevates it above a standard redemption arc and has made it a natural classroom and school-library staple. Readers who prize Korman's purely comic work should know the tone here is notably more serious, but that shift is the source of the novel's emotional power.
- Is it worth reading?
- For readers in the middle-grade range who respond to character-driven fiction with genuine emotional stakes, Restart earns its reputation as a New York Times bestseller. The multi-narrator structure does real work — it prevents the novel from becoming a simple feel-good redemption story by keeping the experiences of Chase's victims, including characters like Shoshanna Weber and her brother Joel, fully in frame. The key caveat is for fans of Korman's typically comic work: the tone here is deliberately and noticeably more serious, which is a strength for readers who want depth but worth knowing in advance.
- Similar books
- Readers drawn to Restart's blend of character-driven middle-grade storytelling and meaningful anti-bullying themes often enjoy other books that explore identity, perspective, and social dynamics in middle school. Gordon Korman's own No More Dead Dogs shares a comparable spirit, though with a lighter register — Scholastic's synopsis for Restart explicitly positions it as a return to that book's energy. Beyond Korman, R.J. Palacio's Wonder tackles school social hierarchies and empathy from multiple viewpoints, making it a natural companion read. Jerry Spinelli's Loser and Andrew Clements' The Losers Club also occupy similar thematic territory for the middle-grade reader interested in outsider perspectives and school dynamics.
- Who should read this?
- Restart is designed for middle-grade readers roughly aged ten to twelve, and works well across both independent reading and guided classroom contexts. It is an especially strong fit for readers who respond to narrative structures that fragment and reassemble a character's identity — and for those who want their middle-grade fiction to have genuine emotional stakes rather than purely comic energy. Readers who have experienced bullying firsthand will likely find the novel's insistence that past behavior has lasting consequences for victims particularly meaningful.
- What age is it for?
- Best for readers ages 10 to 12, which aligns with the standard middle-grade range Scholastic designed the book for. The novel's themes of bullying, identity, and the consequences of past behavior are rendered with enough emotional complexity to reward readers who can engage with multiple competing perspectives — making it a good fit for confident readers at the upper end of that range as well.
- What's the reading level?
- Restart is written for the middle-grade range, targeting readers roughly aged ten to twelve, and its grade-level positioning means it works comfortably across both independent reading and guided classroom contexts. The novel's rotating first-person narrators require readers to track multiple voices and perspectives simultaneously, which makes it most rewarding for confident readers within that age band. Educators have noted its usefulness for teaching prediction and perspective-taking, further cementing its place as a classroom-ready text.
- Is this a good book club pick?
- Restart is a strong book club pick for middle-grade reading groups and classroom discussion circles. Its central question — can someone truly change who they are, or will old patterns reassert themselves? — is precisely the kind of open-ended moral question that generates substantive discussion. SuperSummary identifies four thematic strands that lend themselves to structured conversation: the possibility of change and growth, bullying in middle school, true friendship, and the courage to cope with fear. The multi-narrator structure also gives a group natural entry points for debating whose perspective they trust and why.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
What age is it for?
What's the reading level?
Is this a good book club pick?
Summarize this book
Restart centers on Chase Ambrose, an eighth-grade football star and confirmed bully who falls off a roof and wakes in a hospital with no memory of who he is. As he reconstructs his past through the reactions of the people around him — old cronies who want the former bad boy back, and classmates he once tormented who are reluctant to trust the person now in front of them — he must decide whether to reclaim that identity or become someone new. Korman tells the story through rotating first-person narrators, including Shoshanna Weber, whose twin brother Joel was bullied by Chase and his associates Aaron and Bear, giving the novel a structural accountability that keeps Chase's victims at the center of the story.
Follow up
Who are the different narrators?
Does Chase fully change by the end?
Is this part of a series?
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Ages 8–12
Reading level
Middle grade
Content to know about
bullying and its emotional aftermath
Best for: Ages 10+ — the rotating narrator structure and moral complexity around bullying and identity suit confident readers in the middle-grade range.
Skip if you're looking for Gordon Korman's trademark comic lightness throughout — the tone here is deliberately and notably more serious.
Related reading
Adjacent titles worth exploring. We haven't reviewed these yet, so they link out to Amazon.