A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag

Last updated
A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag
A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag.jpg
First edition
Author Gordon Korman
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Scholastic Trade
Publication date
August 1987
Media typePrint (Hardcover, MMP)
Pages257 pp
ISBN 0-590-40694-9
LC Class PZ7.K8369 Se 1987

A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag is a young adult novel by Gordon Korman, [1] a Canadian-born author who now lives in New York City.

Contents

The main characters are Raymond Jardine and Sean Delancy. Sean is a popular student, a starter on the high school basketball team. Raymond Jardine is the man with no luck and therefore is constantly scheming to get to the Greek Island Theamelpos that he calls "the luck place", in order to cure his absence of luck.

Plot

The plot of the novel revolves around Jardine bringing Sean Delancey, his English poetry project partner, into various schemes to ensure their arrival at Theamelpos for the summer. The central one of which involves winning an English-department contest based on their poetry unit. Along the way they encounter Ashley, a beautiful model who becomes the third member of their poetry project, and Cementhead (Steve Semenski), the luckiest student in the school. Sean and Raymond eventually ask Sean's grandfather to impersonate a (fictional) virtually-unknown poet, Gavin Gunhold, in order to bolster their poetry project for English class.

A subplot revolves around the unmasking the school administration's coverups regarding a local government contract to use the school as a testbed for SACGEN (Solar Air Current GENerator), a (fictional) stand-alone power system project that is supposed to power the school using only renewable energy. The school building was disconnected from the electric power grid, and its central core was gutted to house the control room and the storage batteries. Unfortunately, the project barely functions, causing frequent blackouts, leading the students to refer to it as "The Windmill."

Unbeknownst to Sean and Raymond, their English teacher had removed the only bibliographical proof of Gunhold's demise from the local library in order to see how far they would go in their attempts to win the contest. This eventually leads to them conspiring with Sean's grandfather to demonstrate the unreliability of "The Windmill" by inviting the local news media to a poetry recitation at the school. Determined to continue the coverup, the school principal and government officials in charge of the project disregard the system engineer's warnings, leading to the catastrophic failure and subsequent explosion of the SACGEN unit.

Following the demise of the SACGEN unit, and the unmasking of the student's forgeries of additional poems by Gunhold, the principal awards Sean and Raymond with the prize trip to Theamelpos in order to make them unavailable for comment during the construction of SACGEN-II.

Reception

A review in Canadian Family said the book was "a classic tale of teenage scheming" which "will keep readers laughing and engaged throughout". [2] Tanya Boudreau of CM Magazine gave the book 3 out of 4 stars, opining that "Raymond and Sean are likeable, well-rounded characters who have memorable personalities and quirks". [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Montgomery High School</span> Public high school in Maryland, US

Richard Montgomery High School (RMHS) is a public high school located in Rockville, Maryland. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. RMHS hosts the county's most competitive and far-reaching International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Michigan University</span> Public university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, US

Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. It was established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute as a private normal school. After the Michigan State Board of Education took over governance of the school it became a state institution and was renamed Central State Normal School in 1895. The institution became a full university and gained its current name Central Michigan University in 1959 under the university's 6th president Judson W. Foust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon College (Massachusetts)</span> Christian college in Wenham, Massachusetts, US

Gordon College is a private Christian college in Wenham, Massachusetts. The college offers 44 majors, 55 concentrations, and 30 interdisciplinary and pre-professional minors as well as graduate programs in education, music education, public health and leadership. Gordon has an undergraduate enrollment of around 1,600 students representing more than 50 Christian denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palo Alto High School</span> Comprehensive high school in Palo Alto, Santa Clara, California, United States

Palo Alto Senior High School, commonly referred to locally as "Paly", is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two high schools in the district, the other being across town: Gunn High School, with which Paly has a rivalry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algonquin Regional High School</span> Public secondary school in Northborough, Massachusetts, United States

Algonquin Regional High School is a public high school located in Northborough, Massachusetts, United States. The school serves the students of the Northborough-Southborough Regional School District (NSRSD) comprising both Northborough and neighboring Southborough.

Raymond Gray Lewis, CM was a Canadian track and field athlete, and the first Canadian-born black Olympic medalist.

Macdonald Hall is the name of a series of young adult novels by author Gordon Korman. The series was formerly named Bruno and Boots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Felipe Herrera</span> American writer (born 1948)

Juan Felipe Herrera is an American poet, performer, writer, cartoonist, teacher, and activist. Herrera was the 21st United States Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017. He is a major figure in the literary field of Chicano poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middlesex Hospital</span> Hospital in London, England

Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally closed in 2005. Its staff and services were transferred to various sites within the University College London Hospitals NHS Trust. The Middlesex Hospital Medical School, with a history dating back to 1746, merged with the medical school of University College London in 1987.

<i>The War with Mr. Wizzle</i>

The War With Mr. Wizzle is the fourth installment in the Macdonald Hall book series. Like all the other books in this series, this one was republished in 2003 with new cover art. This installment was given the modified title "The Wizzle War". Additionally, because the book deals largely with technological advancements and discusses computers and software, it was rewritten to reflect the abundance of technology today. For instance, in the 1982 version, the character Mr. Wizzle brings in a large mainframe-like computer known as the Magnetronic 515, which according to Elmer is the most modern computer an institution like Macdonald Hall could have. In the updated 2003 version, the abundance of computers in the school is present, but the character Mr. Wizzle comes up with, instead of a new computer, a new software program that he is determined to run everything with. The book was originally written in 1982 by Gordon Korman.

<i>The 39 Clues</i> Novel series by various authors

The 39 Clues is a series of adventure novels written by a collaboration of authors, including Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Roland Smith, David Baldacci, Jeff Hirsch, Natalie Standiford, C. Alexander London, Sarwat Chadda and Jenny Goebel. It consists of five series, The Clue Hunt, Cahills vs. Vespers, Unstoppable, Doublecross, and Superspecial. They chronicle the adventures of two siblings, Amy and Dan Cahill, who discover that their family has been, and still is, the most influential family in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">École nationale d'ingénieurs de Tarbes</span>

The École nationale d'Ingénieurs de Tarbes - ENIT is a French school of engineering leading to the French “Diplôme d'Ingénieur” under the authority of the French Ministry of Education and Research and part of the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse (INPT). Founded in 1963, about 200 students graduate from the ENIT each year.
ENIT is part of the ENI group, which is a network of 4 French public engineering schools.

<i>The Twinkie Squad</i> Book by Gordon Korman

The Twinkie Squad is a children's novel written by Gordon Korman published in 1992. The story follows the mis-adventures of Armando "Commando" Rivera, a feisty, popular basketball-obsessed hotshot who often gets in trouble with bullies and teachers; and Douglas Fairchild, the tall, pale son of a U.S. Ambassador, who claims to be from a small middle-eastern nation called 'Pefkakia' because he was born on a jet plane in its main airport during an emergency layover. The story is ostensibly set in Washington D.C.

<i>Son of Interflux</i> 1986 novel by Gordon Korman

Son of Interflux is a 1986 children's novel by Gordon Korman.

Poetry Ireland is an organisation for poets and poetry, in both Irish and English, in the island of Ireland. It is a private nonprofit organisation that receives support from The Arts Council of Ireland and The Arts Council of Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1978 by John F. Deane and is based in Parnell Square, Dublin. Its thirtieth anniversary in 2008 was celebrated by events all over Ireland culminating in an event at the Irish College in Paris.

Erick Gordon is the Founding Director of the Student Press Initiative (SPI) at Teachers College, Columbia University, a professional development program for teachers whose mission is to turn writing instruction into inquiry-driven projects that culminate in student publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">École supérieure des sciences commerciales d'Angers</span> French business school

ESSCA School of Management is a French grande école and business school. Historically based in Angers, it now has campuses in Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Lyon, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Budapest, Malaga, Luxembourg and Shanghai.

<i>Ungifted</i> 2012 novel by Gordon Korman

Ungifted is a 2012 children's novel by Gordon Korman, which contains 31 chapters and 280 pages. The story is told with chapters of alternating perspectives. The plot revolves around Donovan Curtis, a troublemaker who gets wrapped up in a major prank gone wrong. Due to an accident caused by the superintendent, Donovan gets sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction (ASD), a school for gifted and talented students. The rest of the novel is spent on Donovan avoiding being caught while helping the students of ASD through his own special gifts. Donovan avoids getting caught by driving the class robot and providing a teacher for Human Growth and Development class, of which the students of ASD lacked, to prevent them from having to attend summer school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S.A. Griffin</span> American poet and actor (b. 1954)

S.A. Griffin is an American poet, actor, performance artist, and publisher. He co-edited The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry. He spells his name without a space between the first two initials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Canadian honours</span>

The following are the appointments to various Canadian Honours of 2019. Usually, they are announced as part of the New Year and Canada Day celebrations and are published within the Canada Gazette during year. This follows the custom set out within the United Kingdom which publishes its appoints of various British Honours for New Year's and for monarch's official birthday. However, instead of the midyear appointments announced on Victoria Day, the official birthday of the Canadian Monarch, this custom has been transferred with the celebration of Canadian Confederation and the creation of the Order of Canada.

References

  1. Korman, Gordon (1987). A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag . New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN   0-590-40694-9.
  2. "A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag". Scholastic Corporation . Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  3. Boudreau, Tanya (16 November 2012). "CM Magazine: A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag". CM Magazine. University of Manitoba. Retrieved 4 August 2015.