“Lose your memory, find your life.” Restart is a realistic fiction novel by Gordon Korman. The book starts out with the main protagonist, Chase Ambrose, waking up in the hospital. He is greeted by many unfamiliar faces, one of which is a lady who claims to be his mom. However, when he tries to reach back into his memories, he pulls a blank. His memory was wiped clean in his fall from the roof. In his journey to regain his memory, he’ll find that he might not like who he used to be. Can he carve out a new path for himself in his eighth-grade year, or will the old Chase take over his new life? Along for the ride are Aaron and Bear, two jocks who are his “best friends,” Brenden, the president of the video club, Shoshanna, who has a grudge on Chase for ruining her twin brother’s life, and Mr. Solway, a cranky war veteran who received a Medal of Honor.One element I love about this book is how, unlike other books, it doesn’t keep you in the know all the time. You’re just as confused and oblivious as Chase is. You know what Chase knows, and you learn as Chase learns (aside from some little snippets of information from when it switches perspective to other characters). Also, I noticed that leading up to and during the climax of the story I found myself rooting for Chase so much to win, and I felt so much emotion. They managed to make him a very likable character, and they gave him a very satisfying arc in which he grows so much as a character. Speaking of character, each of the characters has their own distinct personality and motivation, like Shoshanna’s stubbornness and grudge against Chase. Each one gets their moment to shine and share their opinion (and biases) when focus in the chapters shifts to them.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it, especially if you’ve enjoyed books like Fish in a Tree and Out of My Mind. It’s not a difficult read, and it only took a little less than three hours for me to finish reading it. I would recommend it for kids ages ten to fourteen. Even if you don’t like realistic fiction all that much, it’s still a great read! I’d give it four and a half out of five stars.
Written by Silas L, Grade 8
