There is a mysterious new student at Fitzgerald High, Jake Garett-and he seems to have it all figured out. Looking like he just stepped off the cover of the J. Crew catalog, he is the greatest long snapper the football team has ever had, and best of all, he hosts the party to go to every Friday night. All the guys want to be like him and all the girls want to date him, but Jake only has eyes for Didi, the girlfriend of alpha male and quarterback, Todd Buckley. Through the eyes of Jake's friend, Rick, readers get to know Jake, first admiring him, then liking him, but eventually fearing for him as they learn Jake's secret. Grade 9 Up-When Rick comes home from summer camp, he discovers that there is a new "it" guy in his high school--one who dresses straight out of J. Crew; is a great football player; and throws the party, complete with multiple kegs, on Friday nights. When Rick finally meets Jake, he discovers that he likes this hip fellow. He is stunned to find out that Jake once tutored Didi, the girlfriend of the quarterback and the most beautiful girl around, in math. When they start spending time together, the entire student body awaits the fallout. It turns out that Jake has given himself a whole new image and persona in his new school to win the approval of the school's most popular and completely superficial crowd simply to attract the attention of someone he loves. Korman's reworking of The Great Gatsby places the action in a modern framework, which makes it more recognizable for today's readers and may lead them to the classic. Teens will find deeper issues to consider about popularity, being true to one's self, and taking responsibility for one's actions as they relate to the setting and characters.--Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Gr. 9-12. High society meets high school in this retelling of The Great Gatsby, set at the class-conscious F. Scott Fitzgerald High. The stories correspond in many particulars: new kid Jake Garrett, "cool, mysterious, different ," has won over the "it" crowd with raucous parties at his subdivision McMansion. Popular opinion turns against Jake when alpha male Todd Buckley suspects the newcomer, rightly, of pursuing his best girl, Didi, and turns up an ugly secret: Jake was once (gasp!) a big nerd. So begins Garrett's plunge to ignominy. The Nick Carraway character, Rick, offers a wry, comic voice, but constricting Fitzgerald's plot to the narrow world of high school, and scaling back the major crises (there's no death, murder, or suicide), leaves behind a drama that has more in common with a John Waters movie than a great American novel. Yet even as young adults feel insulted by the novel's portrayal of teenagers as nerd haters, beer guzzlers, and herd followers, they're also likely to read it with a wink and a smirk as they catch the sundry Gatsby allusions. Jennifer Mattson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Gordon Korman wrote his first book at age fourteen and since then has written more than eighty middle grade and teen novels. His favorites include the New York Times bestselling The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, Book One: The Medusa Plot; Ungifted; Pop ; and Schooled . Gordon lives with his family on Long Island, New York. He invites you to visit him online at GordonKorman.com. Used Book in Good Condition