What's New?

09/01/11

I don't know how I have missed listing several updates in here, but it has not been more than two years since the last update. Today's updates have included adding the book excerpt for the Titanic series, and information on the release of Vespers Rising and the Medusa Plot, plus news on the upcoming fourth Swindle book, Showoff, and Ungifted from Harper Collins, which will be released Fall 2012. And finally, an update to Gordon's travel schedule.

06/30/09

Our latest updates include more answers to your questions in Ask Gordon, an updated travel schedule, and book excerpts for Pop and Zoobreak.

04/06/09

Gordon now has a blog on the site, where he can post information on upcoming projects and what he's got going on, without having to wait for me to be able to do any site maintenance to get the materials on-line. Also coming soon, a new Ask Gordon installment, and updates to the travel schedule.

01/07/09

New to this update ... Gordon has provided another letter on the From the Desk of page. He's also answered more of your questions on Ask Gordon, and has updated travel plans to include more scheduled school visits. In addition, we have a new link for the Gordon Korman Message Forum.

05/14/08

New to this update ... Gordon has provided the cover and three sample chapters for his next book, coming out in the Fall -- The Juvie Three. Check out the new materials and see what you think. In addition, we have added a link to the Scholastic Book Club site, where they have a video clip of Gordon talking about Swindle.

We are also adding a new feature, Ask Gordon. We're starting out with two questions some of Gordon's fans have asked in the past, but the best way to make sure the feature continues and has interesting content is to add a question of your own, and see if Gordon answers it. Depending on how many good questions we get, we may have new answers posted once a month, or maybe a couple of times a month. Check it out.

03/12/08

This update will probably be in a couple of parts. Gordon has a new book in the works, which he'll soon be providing a sample chapter of. In the meantime, he has provided a new letter for the "From the Desk of:" section, and his newest release, Swindle, made it out in stores a couple of months before it was expected. So we have done some updates around the site, but some of them will have to wait until Gordon's current wave of school visits, so he can have a chance to get me the materials.

In the meantime, the discussion forum will return within a few days, one way or another. It may be up in a temporary form, with all the old accounts, but none of the old messages, while I try to get everything else working on it. As always, more to come.

10/04/07

No, it hasn't been a year since the last update, but the last one didn't get listed on here. Anyway, with this update we have information and sample chapters on Gordon's next Project, Swindle, which will be released by Scholastic in March of 2008. We also have a new letter from Gordon, and the Discussion Forum is temporarily off line. Look for more information in the near future.

09/18/06

Yes, it's one of those infrequent Gordon Korman web site updates! We now have information and sample chapters on all three of the Kidnapped books, a new letter from Gordon, updates to the travel schedule, and a few minor extras here and there, along with word on a couple more updoming Gordon Korman projects! Hope you enjoy the latest content, and that you continue visiting!

01/15/06

For all those who have noticed a link for Gordon's travel schedule on the site, and have reported that it doesn't lead to anything, you were right -- it was supposed to have been a part of the last update, but it just didn't get done. This time around, it is finally in place, along with many other additions, including a new letter on the From the Desk of ... page, and cover shots and sample chapters of the last four of the On the Run books and the upcoming Born to Rock. Also new, this time around is an audio sample of the audio book version of Son of the Mob on its page. Again, we'll try to stay more up-to-date in the future.

04/25/05

I'm behind on updating the site ... so what's new? We'll have to see if we can stay more up to date in the future. New this time around, more information on current and future releases, including pages and blurbs for the first two books in the On the Run series, plus sample chapters from each. Also a new letter from Gordon on the From the Desk of ... page, and after considering the idea for a couple of years, Gordon has decided to provide a partial list of his travel plans, so you can check to see if Gordon may be coming to your area sometime soon.

08/06/04

We have added new information on Gordon's current new releases and future projects, including the first chapter of Son of the Mob: Hollywood Hustle. There is also a new letter from Gordon on our From the Desk of ... page, and a little behind the scenes tinkering to keep things on the site running well.

12/13/03

I appologize for the delays in updates to the site for the last few months ... moving across the country kind of put a crimp into my computer time for a while, but that is no excuse. In our update this time, we have a nice new look, and proper pages up for all of Gordon's current releases, including Dive and Jake Reninvented. We also have small bits of information up on the next two upcoming projects, a sequel to Son of the Mob (the Hollywood Hustle), and an (as yet untitled) series of six books about a brother and sister on the run from the law.

You also may have noticed some holiday ingredients added to the mix, just in keeping with the season. A little extra holiday color never hurt! Finally, our discussion forum has been relocated, due to some server difficulties. All links on the site lead to its currect location, but you may need to reset your bookmarks.

05/20/03

The biggest change for our site, this time around, is we are once again partnering with amazon.com and amazon.ca to offer Gordon's books here on the site. You'll find links at the tops of the various book reviews which lead directly to amazon for the various editions of the books which are available. Links are included for both amazon U.S. and amazon Canada, when both shops offer the books. All purchases are made through amazon's own secure servers.

On other updates, we have another new letter from Gordon, and we have added a list of awards which Gordon's books have received to the Bibliography page. Maxx Comedy and the first couple of Dive books are now available at bookstores, and we have added a preview chapter from Jake, Reinvented and a cover shot.

Finally, on our discussion forum, there are now 14 quizzes which you can take on Gordon's various books, and the perl and javascript games have -finally- been added. We hope you find the site continues to be one of your favorites!

02/20/03

Mostly minor updates, this time. We have added the new covers from the Canadian re-releases of the recently renamed Macdonald Hall series, This Can't Be Happening, and Go Jump in the Pool. We have also added new cover scans for Who is Bugs Potter and Son of Interflux. In addition, now included at the bottom of the review for This Can't be Happening is the original epilogue Gordon wrote for the book, before he realised there would be several sequals.

01/01/03

Enlarged the discussion forum with more areas for discussion, including places for posting your own fiction, if you want to share with the rest of us. In addition, as part of the discussion forum experience, we now have the ability to include instantly self-grading quizzes ... go try out our first one, based on the Everest series! Finally, you can also play perl and flash games from the discussion board (though you do have to register to play the quizzes and games ... go ahead, its simple and painless!)

Furthermore, we have a new letter from Gordon in the From the Desk of column, the short story A Reasonable Sum has been added this time (sorry I didn't get it added last time, when I mentioned it) and we have small bits of information on Gordons newest upcoming projects, including another adventure series and another Young Adult novel.

10/20/02

We now have pages, covers and blurbs available for each book in the Everest trilogy, and Son of the Mob, both now in stores and ready for purchase. We have also added the final piece of Gordon Korman short fiction we currently have access to, so take a look at A Reasonable Sum.

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming information on Maxx Comedy and Gordon's next adventure trilogy, coming from Scholastic next summer! Hope everybody has a great school year!

07/22/02

The new look I've been designing for the site is now complete with the addition of our new home page. I hope everybody enjoys it! As far as content goes, we've added quite a bit. There are covers and reviews for Gordon's just-released The Contest (part of the Everest trilogy), and Son of the Mob (Gordon's next young adult novel, to be released in the fall from Hyperion) and a new letter from Gordon on the From the Desk of section. And of course, What's New obviously has its own page again.

We hope you continue to enjoy our new look, and the updated information on Gordon's projects! Please keep reading, and keep checking back for more information!

05/22/02

I'm sure you have already noticed our new look ... I've thought for a while the site could do with a little color, and Gordon happily agreed with me. Links are also highlighted when you pass the mouse over them, now, which makes it easier to distinguish longer titles in the narrow navigation bar. The smaller link sizes and less flash in the navigation bar also allow us to keep it shorter, hopefully making it easier for you to find what you are looking for.

But wait, there's more! (I've always wanted to say that!) Our new look is not yet completely finished. Our home page will get a major make-over (again, hopefully a good thing) with our next update, sometime in June. What's New? will again have it's own page, and Hyperion is allowing us to preview the entire first chapter of Son of the Mob, available Fall, 2002. We'll also have more in-depth information on the release of The Contest, book 1 in Gordon's new Everest trilogy. Now how much would you pay?

05/07/02

This change is almost entirely behind the scenes ... gordonkorman.com has moved to a new server. The only changes which should be noticeable to our guests are a new e-mail address for the webmaster (I can now be reached at webdude@gordonkorman.com instead of the old webmaster address), and the absence of those hideous pop-up windows on the new forum. Hopefully there will be nothing else noticeably different.

04/20/02

Made a change to the site that I've been wanting to do for a while, now. The old message board that we used to use was a pretty good service, but it had some points I didn't like ... namely a limit of about 100 messages, and it would put some responses out of order. I have now got up a new message board that allows unlimited messages, keeps replies in a thread in perfect order, and may encourage more posting. Check it out, I hope you all like it.

Meanwhile, I have moved about six discussions from the old board to the new one, but it takes a little bit of time and work. If anybody else has a thread on the old site that they are especially interested in, ask me, and I'll see if I can get it moved. (Or ask me for the url of the old board, and you can copy the messages over, yourself.)

03/30/02

Due to computer woes, I am woefully behind in updating the site, as there is lots of news! We grow ever nearer the release of Gordon's first true young adult title in perhaps over ten years, Son of the Mob, scheduled for a Fall, 2002 release. (It could be in stores as early as August.) Keep visiting our site, and we'll probably have a sample chapter on display around the beginning of summer. Work also proceeds apace on the Spring, 2003 release of Maxx Comedy.

But Gordon Korman fans will not have to wait until Fall for their newest fix ... overwhelmed by the success of the Island trilogy last summer, Scholastic contracted Gordon to write another adventure trilogy! Everest is complete, and in the process of printing, for a hopeful publishing schedule to match last summer's release of Island.

As to the web site: There's a new letter from Gordon in our From the Desk of ... section with information on what he's been doing lately, and we've also added another short story here on the site. See what you think of Hamish Mactavish is Eating a Bus for some more Gordon Korman humor that most of us haven't seen. And keep reading the Official Gordon Korman Web Site, so you'll know when the newest titles are actually available! Hope your Spring is wonderful!

08/16/01

For all the Gordon Korman fans heading back to school, we'd like to wish you a great year of reading and learning ... and for those of you who've left your school years far behind, we invite you to think back to your own memories of classes, bells, assemblies, statues of John D. Macdonald, and scuba gear. Here's to Bruno, Boots, and all of the other memorable characters who've headed back to class once again!

We have a few new touches here at the web site: There's a short new letter from Gordon in our From the Desk of ... section, and we've also added one of Gordon's past short stories directly here on the site. Check out Homicide Meets Mr. Gold Medal for a little Gordon Korman humor that most of us haven't previously had a chance to read.

Now that all three books in the Island series have been released, and some of our readers have had the chance to check them out, we invite you to stop by the forum and share your thoughts on Gordon's first adventure series. We'd love to hear what you think! In the meantime, keep on reading and laughing!

07/27/01

Island book 3 is now available! Escape concludes the adventure of our six castaways, and Gilligan and Maryann seem to be all set to tie the ... oops, wrong set of castaways! Seriously, with Will shot in the leg at the end of the previous book, very little in the line of medical supplies, and smugglers camping out on the island, things are looking very dangerous, indeed.

We here at gordonkorman.com hope you are all having a great summer. Please remember to sign up on the mailing list above, so we can keep you informed as to Gordon's latest doings and new additions to the site. In the next month or so we'll be adding some great new content, just in time for the new school year! Meanwhile, keep reading!

06/12/01

Island book 2 is now available! Survival tells the story of our Shipwrecked crew on the tropical island they've managed to find. But there wouldn't be much to tell (or a reason for the third title coming out next month) if survival were easy, so there are still plenty of problems for the kids to solve!

Regarding the site, we've been submitted to all the search engines, so it's just a matter of waiting to get added back into the systems. Finally, we've reached a point where about 95% of Gordon's books are now complete with pictures, reviews and excerpts here on this site!

06/01/01

Welcome to our permanent new home, gordonkorman.com and our new name, the Official Gordon Korman Web Site. Most of the basics of the site are still the same, but we're adding a page with information on Gordon's school visits, and revamping a few others. Check out From the Desk of Gordon Korman for a few words from the man, himself on what's going on. Gordon will update this section every few months, so keep your eyes open.

If you have any interest in Gordon's writing at all, PLEASE do yourself and him a favor, and check out his newest title, Shipwreck, the first book in the new Island series. A departure from Gordon's usual material, Shipwreck isn't humor, its an adventure story, but it is very well written, and a very good read. The following is some information in Gordon's own words which he provided during an on-line conversation we had a few months ago, while he was still writing the books:

It's going to be a trilogy published by Scholastic this summer called ISLAND. The individual novels are just going to be Books 1, 2, & 3. It's the story of a bunch of kids (six) on a character building trip who get shipwrecked on an island in the mid-Pacific. It's a big departure because, while there is some humor, that's not the main focus of the books. It's really an action-adventure kind of thing.

Check out the new, intensive Scholastic web site for the Island trilogy at www.scholastic.com/titles/island for even more information.

07/12/00

Updated the book lists to include four more Gordon Korman titles, added covers and reviews for some of them. Am working on some new information for the biography section. Either this time or next time we'll have book information for Canadian bookstores as well as Amazon, since some of Gordon's books which are out of print here are still available in Canada. Coming soon, a chance to ask questions of Gordon, the answers of which will be posted on the site.

01/29/00

Welcome to the new home of the Semi-Official Website. Please be sure to bookmark our new location, so you can find us again. There should be many new bits to add on before I am absolutely finished with this update.

11/12/99

Added a welcome letter that Gordon sent me for the visitors to the site. Everything else is quiet.

10/27/99

Gordon's latest title, The Stars From Mars, is available in stores now. Click here for our review. Also, Gordon celebrated his 36th birthday this last week. More to follow, soon.

10/11/99

We've merged the What's New page with the site's home page, and added a new page, Fun & Games. Eventually we will have quizzes and puzzles on that page, but check it out right now for our first interactive top-ten list. (Can you come up with Artie Geller's next wacky scam?) Be on the lookout for a welcome letter from Gordon, himself, coming soon. The site will also probably be moving soon. Everybody who is on the e-mail list will receive notification as soon as it happens.

09/21/99

Got a new computer. Reworked all pages to remove green text … people had complained it was too hard to read. Gordon's latest, The Stars From Mars, is either out, or should be out within a couple of weeks. In the next week or two, I will add more bookstores for our foreign visitors, and to make it possible for you to order books that are not available in the US, but are, elsewhere. Further word expected from Gordon soon.

08/05/99

Finally got around to creating an invisible spacer gif to allow proper indenting, which ought to make it a little easier to read the book excerpts included with many of the book reviews. Correcting errors and other minor improvements.

07/29/99

All review are now up, and the Semi-Official Gordon Korman Web Site is now officially open to the world. Check out the warped reviews for the Jeremy Bloom titles for my own somewhat twisted poetry. All links should now be fully functional, and all features except the book shop should be fully implemented, so if you come across anything that doesn't seem to be working, please drop me an e-mail and let me know!

07/19/99

More book reviews in, including a review of the new Nose Pickers From Outer Space, of which I managed to pick up an early review copy. While written for the younger audience (ages 7-10 according to the book), it certainly has a lot of the usual Gordon Korman humor.
Meanwhile, in regards to Gordon, himself, it has been revealed that his new son Jay has moved to solid foods, so dinner is now “protracted, violent, and Technicolor.” He also promises that some extra information will be on its way soon for the web page.

06/28/99

Completed review for all the young adult titles, now only some of the children's books haven't been completed. Started getting links to the Bookstore in place. For anybody who wishes to help out, I could use the cover blurb from Radio Fifth Grade, as my copy of that book is in storage on the other side of the country, and I don't remember it well enough to review off the top of my head.

06/25/99

Added several more reviews, including the NFL books, and the Upcoming books section. Got up a very limited biography that will be expanded shortly. Added in the bookstore page (though not yet the book links themselves) and the links page. Nearly all links are now in place. Submitted site to search engines.

06/01 - 06/21/99

Basic creation of this web site, including hooking up the guest book and the discussion forum, basic site design, early startup of the bookstore links and the first dozen or so reviews linked up. Over the next two weeks we'll hopefully get all the reviews and all the links properly up.