Operation Do-Over
By Mary Eisenhart,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Time travel, second chances in wacky middle school tale.
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What's the Story?
OPERATION DO-OVER introduces Mason and Ty, two 12-year-olds who bonded back in Gymboree and have been best (if not only) friends ever since. Obsessed with science fiction in general and time travel in particular, they're scorned and bullied by the jocks and cool kids, but everything's fine until a new girl, Ava, from New York, transfers into their class and starts hanging out with them. Both smitten, the friends realize the problem and vow to avoid the romantic peril to their relationship -- but matters take on a life of their own, the friendship is in tatters, and that's just the beginning of the wreckage in Mason's life. By the time he's in high school, things are seriously off the rails. Fresh from the latest disaster, he unaccountably wakes up back in middle school, before it all went wrong -- but can he fix things? And what else might change if you change the past?
Is It Any Good?
Time travel meets middle school in Gordon Korman's hysterical, poignant, relatable tale of a friendship gone bad and a second chance to make it right. Operation Do-Over takes the 17-year-old narrator back to his 12-year-old self and the fateful moment when a girl came between him and his best friend. It's been one catastrophe after another ever since, so he's determined to do better this time. Seeing things through older eyes gives him a lot of insight into what to avoid -- and also makes him notice a lot of social dynamics he missed the first time around. Hilarity, heartstring-tugging, and hard-won wisdom ensue, and, as often happens with stories of timeline-tampering, unexpected things happen.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about time-travel tales -- especially the ones like Operation Do-Over, where people go back in time to "fix" something that's gone wrong in their own era. Why do you think this is such a popular theme? What other examples do you like?
Two best friends in love with the same person -- it's an often told tale, in storytelling and in real life. Sometimes it all works out well, sometimes not so much. Have you seen this happen with people you know? How did it turn out?
If you could go back and change one thing in your past, what would it be?
Book Details
- Author: Gordon Korman
- Genre: Friendship
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Friendship , Great Boy Role Models , Middle School
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Balzer + Bray
- Publication date: January 18, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 304
- Available on: Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Award: Common Sense Selection
- Last updated: April 1, 2022
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