Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Slugfest

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

From Gordon Korman, the New York Times bestselling author of Restart, comes a hilarious new story about a group of underdogs who come together when they are forced to attend summer school—for failing PE.

Yash is the best athlete at Robinette Middle School—so good, in fact, that he's already playing on the high school's JV sports teams. Imagine his shock when he learns that his JV practices have kept him from earning a state-mandated credit for eighth-grade PE. To graduate, he has to take Physical Education Equivalency—PEE, also known as "Slugfest"—in summer school.

Yash gets to know his fellow "slugs": Kaden, an academic superstar who's physically hopeless; twins Sarah and Stewart, who are too busy trying to kill each other to do any real PE; Jesse, a notorious prankster; Arabella, who protests everything; and Cleo, a natural athlete who has sworn off sports.

But when one of them tries to blow the lid off a scandal that could make all their time in summer school a waste, Yash is forced to take drastic action.

Teaming up with the most hapless crew in school can really surprise a person. And their teacher might be hiding the biggest surprise yet. . . .

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Levels

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 23, 2023
      After spending all year playing on the local high school’s JV sports teams, middle schooler and athletic superstar Arnie “Yash” Yashenko is shocked to learn that he’s failed PE due to numerous unexcused absences. And because he won’t graduate eighth grade or be eligible to try out for high school sports until he attends summer school, he reluctantly joins the Physical Education Equivalency class known as Slugfest. His schoolmates include perpetually bickering twins Stuart and Sarah, practical joker Jesse, clumsy genius Kaden, and former athlete Cleo, who was held back a year due to a serious injury. The unlikely assortment of unhappy students bond over their dislike of the class, whose retired elderly teacher prefers baking to instructing, and even develop close friendships. And when Yash concocts a plan to compete in the citywide flag football tournament as a way for him to try out for the high school football team, he determines to turn his athletically
      disinclined classmates into champions. Korman (Mixed Up) balances humor and heart, delivering a tale that is both plausible and a little outlandish, realistic and just a bit goofy. Snappy dialogue, idiosyncratically depicted characters, and a madcap plot keep this lively, good-natured story moving at a brisk pace. Most characters read as white. Ages 8–12.

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from November 1, 2023
      Unlikely teammates in a summer school PE class go for glory on the gridiron. Korman rewards readers willing to suspend their disbelief with a middle school romp that takes the "Bad News Bears" premise for a wild ride. Thanks to a new state rule that eighth graders can't graduate to high school without a PE credit, summer school sees a motley assortment of students assembled in the gym--from world-class klutz Kaden Cooperman, who skipped that class all year to avoid being bullied, to multisport superstar Arnie "Yash" Yashenko, left high and dry after being led to believe that he had been excused to play with the high school's varsity teams. When the class falls under the management of a retired second grade and home ec ("Family and Consumer Studies") teacher named Mrs. Finnerty, the stage seems set for a wasted summer--but the author has other plans. If none of the classmates (except for Yash) initially show much enthusiasm for sports, by the time the annual all-city flag football tournament rolls around, they've become a quarrelsome, disorganized, laughably inept...team. Even elderly Mrs. Finnerty demonstrates hidden depths, plus an apparently limitless supply of baked goods that will keep readers salivating alongside this lively, large-hearted, sharply seen cast of middle schoolers. Characters largely read white. The pastries aren't all that's sweet in a tale rich in wins both public and personal. (Fiction. 9-13)

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      December 1, 2023
      Grades 4-7 Yash is such a superstar athlete that the middle-school principal allows him to skip gym class to practice and play on the high-school sports teams. But when the state decrees that no middle-school student will graduate and proceed to high school without first completing the eighth-grade physical education requirement, Yash must take the class (rudely called Slugfest) in summer school. Their teacher, a somewhat elderly woman who used to teach second grade, has them playing tag and duck, duck, goose, and some of Yash's peers find even those activities challenging. But miraculously, this ragtag group of basically decent kids bonds sufficiently to compete in a junior-high flag football tournament. The first-person narrative rotates chapter by chapter among members of the Slugfest team. While not every writer can use this technique successfully, Korman makes it look effortless, and his ability to create memorable individual characters will help readers keep the narrators straight. There may be some surprises along the way, but fans can count on a satisfying conclusion.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • The Horn Book

      March 1, 2024
      Eighth grader Arnie Yashenko hits a lot of home runs playing for the high school's JV baseball team. Problem is, he's been missing middle-school gym classes to practice at the high school, and now the state has changed the rules: if he doesn't take summer school PE, he won't graduate and can't start high school in the fall. But if he does the class, he'll miss the workouts necessary for pitching for the JV Comets. Besides (and Yash knows he sounds like a "stuck-up jerk" here), he can't mingle with the uncoordinated unfortunates who attend summer school PE. "There's a name around here for the people who end up in that class -- slugs! That's why they call it Slugfest!" Chapters alternate between Yash and other reluctant summer school attendees, including Cleo Marchand, who's there because of incompletes for missed time due to a skiing accident. (The others' first-person narratives save readers from an overload of Yash's self-absorption.) Star athlete and local legend Yash starts the season playing tag; duck, duck, goose; and musical chairs and, by the end of the term, is part of a team he loves. The team's musical-chairs experience even serves them well in a city-wide seven-on-seven flag football tournament. Yash learns the value of friendship and teamwork in this big-hearted novel. Dean Schneider

      (Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

    • The Horn Book

      January 1, 2024
      Eighth grader Arnie Yashenko hits a lot of home runs playing for the high school's JV baseball team. Problem is, he's been missing middle-school gym classes to practice at the high school, and now the state has changed the rules: if he doesn't take summer school PE, he won't graduate and can't start high school in the fall. But if he does the class, he'll miss the workouts necessary for pitching for the JV Comets. Besides (and Yash knows he sounds like a "stuck-up jerk" here), he can't mingle with the uncoordinated unfortunates who attend summer school PE. "There's a name around here for the people who end up in that class -- slugs! That's why they call it Slugfest!" Chapters alternate between Yash and other reluctant summer school attendees, including Cleo Marchand, who's there because of incompletes for missed time due to a skiing accident. (The others' first-person narratives save readers from an overload of Yash's self-absorption.) Star athlete and local legend Yash starts the season playing tag; duck, duck, goose; and musical chairs and, by the end of the term, is part of a team he loves. The team's musical-chairs experience even serves them well in a city-wide seven-on-seven flag football tournament. Yash learns the value of friendship and teamwork in this big-hearted novel.

      (Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.1
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

Loading