Insomniac's blog

I decided to take a look at Gordon Korman on the internet before I begin to read No More Dead Dogs. I believe that sometimes it is helpful to have some background information on an author, his or her writing style, or personality before devoting time and energy to a book. I must confess though, I have not read much YA literature in awhile. I do have a middle schooler at home so I sometimes read sections of her books just to do the whole parental censorship thing, but to sit down and read a YA book for content is something I haven't done in awhile.
I was impressed with the website I found on Gordon Korman. While the initial organization of the page is a little busy, I did find some useful information on him. Included on the site was a bibliography, short newspaper interviews, titles of his books, full text of his short stories, as well as a host of other information. So far, I am impressed. Korman seems to have a rather light-hearted take on comedy and writes his books in a way that celebrates humor and the strange situations his YA characters get themselves involved in.
Another way in which I checked out Gordon Korman was at the library. My local library, Howard Miller Public Library had a copy of No More Dead Dogs available and when I went to check the book out the librarian told me that the copy I had just checked out was signed by Gordon Korman and that he had visited the Holland area about a year ago. She also told me that the book and the author were quite popular with middle schoolers. This was another positive recommendation to read this book.
Another positive recommendation came from my daughter Myah. Recently in her language arts class, the kids had to do a book report project. When I told Myah that I was going to read No More Dead Dogs, she became very excited and told me that one of her classmates had read and did a report on that same book! Myah had been so impressed with the information that her classmate had shared with her that she basically gave me a condensed version of her friend's book report.
All of these positive recommendations has gotten me excited about reading this YA novel. I think that this author's use of light hearted comedy, and his ability to use more normal, albeit strange, situations will make this a fun read for me. I sure do hope that I can add one more positive recommendation of this book and author when I finish it. When others recommend a certain book or author, it always makes an impression with me. This is how I find so many good books, through checking them out through friends, online, and through the librarians.