Marshmallow reviews Restart by Gordon Korman

Last year Marshmallow reviewed The Unteachables, a 2019 book by Gordon Korman. This week she reviews an earlier book by the same author: Restart, which was first published in 2017.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked some of Gordon Korman’s other books, such as The Unteachables, or if you want to read books about kids having second chances with friends at school, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): After falling off of the roof of his house, Chase Ambrose’s memory “just [goes] out the window.” He remembers how to do most things, like talking and walking, but he doesn’t know his family or his friends. He doesn’t even know his own name. All he remembers is a little blond girl in a blue dress. When he returns to his high school, it is clear that some people think of him as a hero, and some people try to avoid him as much as possible, as they are really scared of him.

At school, his “best friends” complain about the community service that they must do as a result of having damaged a school piano. When he learns this, Chase starts to wonder who he really was and who he is going to be. At lunch, he sits with a kid named Brandon who is very scared of him. At some point, Brandon realizes that Chase actually has amnesia. Many people don’t believe that Chase has amnesia at the beginning, either because they can’t believe it because they were very close to him so they do not want to believe it — this is true for Chase’s best friends, Bear and Aaron, who were two of Chase’s accomplices in their bullying of Joel Weber — or because they hate him so much and do not trust him — this is the case for Shoshanna Weber, Joel Weber’s twin sister.

Shoshanna hates Chase so much that when she sees him in Heaven on Ice, a local frozen yogurt place, she goes up to him and dumps her frozen yogurt on his head. In fact, the piano that Chase, Bear, and Aaron damaged by putting cherry bombs in it, was the same piano that Joel was playing on, resulting in him almost going into cardiac arrest. Chase eventually learns that Joel and Shoshanna’s parents had to move Joel to a different school because of Chase’s bullying. So Chase has to decide who he wants to be and who he was does not seem to be so great.

Marshmallow’s Review: I really enjoyed reading Restart. The characters are particularly realistic and they are also relatable. I do not know who my favorite character is, because I like all of them. The book is written from the perspectives of different characters. For example, one chapter might be told from Chase’s point of view and the next one might be coming from another person, for example, Brandon or Shoshanna.

Though Restart is a great book, I think that it is best for 8 and up, as the plot might be confusing for younger bunnies. The plot is not particularly complex, but younger bunnies might be confused especially if they don’t know what amnesia is. And the author uses a bad word.

I think the central theme of amnesia in Restart is interesting, though I personally wouldn’t want to have amnesia at all, and the author, Gordon Korman, does a very good job of telling it. I think it was kind of sad that Chase forgot everything about his family and friends, but when it turns out that he will get his memory back eventually, he turns out to become a nicer person, and gets new friends. In the end, in this book, it seemed like having amnesia turned out to be a good thing for him. (Again, for him.)

I think that bigger bunnies might also enjoy Restart, and I am trying to get Sprinkles to read it too. 

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.