Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman
Born (1963-10-23) October 23, 1963
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupation Writer
Nationality Canadian, American
Alma mater New York University
Period 1975–present
Genre Realistic fiction, adventure, comedy for young people
Notable works
  • Macdonald Hall
  • Swindle
  • The Toilet Paper Tigers
  • The 39 Clues (contributor)
Website
gordonkorman.com

Gordon Korman (born October 23, 1963) is a Canadian American author who has written over 80 children's and young-adult fiction books.[1]

Early life

Korman was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he lived until 1970.[1] He grew up in Thornhill, Ontario just north of Toronto, Ontario and attended German Mills Public School and public high school at Thornlea Secondary School in Thornhill, Ontario.[1][2] He then moved to the United States to attend college at New York University where he studied film and film-writing.[3] Korman received a BFA from New York University in 1985;[1] with a degree in Dramatic Visual Writing and a minor in Motion Picture and Television.[4]

Career

Korman wrote his first book when he was 12[5] years old.[3] While attending German Mills Public School, his Grade 7 English teacher was Mr. Hamilton, a track and field coach who found himself teaching English for the first time.[1] Hamilton required students to write a novel during the semester, and this assignment became the manuscript for Korman's first book, This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall, the first book in his Macdonald Hall (Bruno and Boots) series.[1]

Korman was the Scholastic Arrow Book Club monitor for the class; after completing the assignment, he mailed his manuscript to Scholastic.[3] This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall was published by Scholastic Press in 1978 when Korman was only 14 years old.[1] Before graduating from high school in Thornhill, Ontario, Korman wrote and published five books.[2]

Korman has written more than 85 books which have sold more than 17 million copies in a career that has spanned three decades.

Works

Non-series books

Series

Macdonald Hall series
Main article: Macdonald Hall
Bugs Potter
  • Who is Bugs Potter? (1980)
  • Bugs Potter LIVE at Nickaninny (1983)
Jeremy Bloom
  • The D- Poems of Jeremy Bloom: A Collection of Poems About School, Homework, and Life (Sort Of) (1992)
  • The Last-Place Sports Poems of Jeremy Bloom: A Collection of Poems About Winning, Losing, and Being a Good Sport (Sometimes) (1996)[6]
Monday Night Football
  • The Quarterback Exchange (1997)
  • Running Back Conversion (1997)
  • Super Bowl Switch (1997)
  • Heavy Artillery (1997)
  • Ultimate Scoring Machine (1998)
  • NFL Rules! Bloopers, Pranks, Upsets, and Touchdowns (1998)
Slapshots series
  • The Stars From Mars (1999)
  • All-Mars All-Stars/The Dream Team (1999)
  • The Face-off Phony (2000)
  • Cup Crazy (2000)
    • 4-in-1 Slapshots: The Complete Collection (2008)
Nose Pickers series
  • Nose Pickers from Outer Space! (1999)
  • Planet of the Nose Pickers (2000)
  • Your Mummy Is a Nose Picker (2000)
  • Invasion of the Nose Pickers (2001)
    • 4-in-1 The Ultimate Nose-Picker Collection (2006)
Island series
Main article: Island (novel series)
  • Shipwreck (2000)
  • Survival (2001)
  • Escape (2001)
    • 3-in-1 Island Trilogy Bind-Up Book (2006)
Son of the Mob
  • Son of the Mob (Hyperion, 2002)
  • Son of the Mob: Hollywood Hustle (2004)
Everest series
  • The Contest (Scholastic, 2002)
  • The Climb (2002)
  • The Summit (2002)
Dive series
  • The Discovery (2002)
  • The Deep (2003)
  • The Danger (2003)
On the Run series
  • Chasing the Falconers (2005)
  • The Fugitive Factor (2005)
  • Now You See Them, Now You Don't (2005)
  • The Stowaway Solution (2005)
  • Public Enemies (2005)
  • Hunting the Hunter (2006)
Kidnapped series
  • The Abduction (2006)
  • The Search (2006)
  • The Rescue (2006)
Swindle series
Titanic series
  • Unsinkable (2011)
  • Collision Course (2011)
  • S.O.S. (2011)
The 39 Clues
Main article: The 39 Clues
Hypnotists series
  • The Hypnotists (2013)
  • Memory Maze (2014)
  • The Dragonfly Effect (2015)
Masterminds series
  • Masterminds (2015)
  • Criminal Destiny (2016)

Adaptations

The Monday Night Football Club series was adapted as the Disney Channel TV series The Jersey, which ran for four years between 1999 and 2004.

Swindle was adapted into a movie that aired on "Nickelodeon" in 2013.

The Macdonald Hall series was optioned. And in 2015, filming began on a television film adaptation of "Go jump in the Pool," the second book in the Macdonald Hall series. It is expected to air sometime spring 2016. Future films on the series are expected to follow.[7]

Other optioned books include No Coins, Please, the Island trilogy and The Twinkie Squad.[1]

Awards and recognition

Personal

He lives in Great Neck, New York, with his wife and three children.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Gordon Korman (home)". gordonkorman.com. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Zlomislic, Diana (April 1, 2009). "Prodigy or precocious?". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Biography: Gordon Korman". Scholastic Teachers. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  4. 1 2 B., Niki. "Stellar Award: Gordon Korman". Stellar Award.ca. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  5. ↑ Masterminds book
  6. ↑ Gordon Korman; Bernice Korman (October 1, 1996). The last-place sports poems of Jeremy Bloom: a collection of poems about winning, losing, and being a good sport (sometimes). Scholastic. ISBN 978-0-590-25516-5. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  7. ↑ Julianna Cummins (July 30, 2015). "YTV decides to Go Jump in the Pool! with Aircraft". kidscreen. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award" [1991–2004]. Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom (learningwithliterature.ualberta.ca). 2004. Retrieved February 20, 2014. Externally archived 2006-05-22.
  9. 1 2 "2001 Popular Paperbacks". YALSA. ALA. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  10. ↑ "1999 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). American Library Association (ALA). Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  11. ↑ "2003 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults: Annotated List". YALSA. ALA. Archived from the original on January 17, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 "YRCA Past Winners". Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA). Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Best Books for Young Adults Annotated List 2004". YALSA. ALA. Archived from the original on January 17, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  14. 1 2 "Charlie May Simon Award (Grades 4–6)". Arkansas State Library (ASL). Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award Winners, 1971 to Current". ASL. Retrieved February 20, 2014.

External links

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