Review by Booklist Review
Though Cam's parents have put up with his gamer lifestyle for years, things change after his inattention to a simple request leads to burnt pasta, billowing smoke, and firemen axing their way through the front door. Responding to his parents' ultimatum that he take up a new interest, 13-year-old Cam starts the Positive Action Group, a fake middle-school club for good-deed doers. There's just one problem: when the club takes off despite his efforts to sabotage it, this champion slacker becomes the reluctant president of a wildly successful organization. After the funny opening chapter, in which Cam relates the oven-fire fiasco, the narration rotates among many characters. The technique works well, showing varied points of view without giving away secrets that will keep readers guessing for quite a while: Who is the mastermind continually undermining Cam's plans, and who is Cam's online nemesis, known as Evil McKillPeople? Korman makes comedy look deceptively easy in this page-turner of a chapter book, which features a strangely sympathetic character in a memorable predicament.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this highly entertaining tale from Korman (Masterminds), eighth grader Cam Boxer lives for playing video games with his two best friends. When he ignores his mother's dinner instructions while playing, resulting in the fire department breaking down the door and a house that smells like burnt ziti, Cam's parents' threats of pulling the plug on his gaming push him to create a fictitious school club. Cam's goal with the Positive Action Group is to mollify his parents without actually doing anything, so he's horrified when students and faculty latch on to the concept and club. Cam's irritation with the club's popularity provides lots of laughs (" 'Well, I'm the president,' I grumbled, 'and I still say that the Positive Action Group doesn't exist' ") as the story unfolds via the perspectives of multiple amusing characters, including classmate Daphne, who wants to save a homeless beaver; Mr. Fanshaw, a guidance counselor who feels that his hour has finally come; and Jennifer, an ultra-achieving high school student who feels threatened by Cam's club's success. Upbeat, inspiring, and full of Korman's signature sense of humor. Ages 8-12. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Thirteen-year-old Cameron Boxer's life revolves around video games. As a hard-core gamer, Cam has perfected his "lifestyle," maximizing screen time while minimizing his efforts to pay attention at school or at home. Focused on playing his favorite game one night, Cam doesn't hear his mother's instructions, leading to The Great Ziti Inferno, an incident that nearly burns down his house. Given an ultimatum by his frustrated parents to unplug and involve himself in something other than video games, Cam, along with his two best friends, creates the Positive Action Group, a fake after-school club that, before they know it, takes on a life of its own and becomes a force for good in the community. Suddenly, Cam has little time for games and finds his cultivated lifestyle as the world's greatest slacker isn't as important as he once believed it to be. Told from multiple perspectives, the story lends itself to a large-cast audio performance, and Jessica Almasy, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Christopher Gebauer, and Jonathan Todd Ross do not disappoint, infusing the characters and narrative with personality and humor. Almasy's portrayal of middle schooler Daphne Leibowitz and high school cheerleader Jennifer Del Rio, fervent do-gooders for different reasons, is spot-on; Todd Ross gives Cam's internal musings and slangy exultations the right balance of blasé and pep, making an initially obnoxious character much more likable. VERDICT Fans of Korman's middle grade romps won't be disappointed with his latest laugh-out-loud story. ["An excellent pick for reluctant readers": SLJ 3/16 review of the Scholastic book.]-Audrey Sumser, Akron-Summit County Public Library, OH © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Cameron's sole interest in life is video games. His understandably fed-up parents rescind his gaming privileges unless he chooses an extracurricular activity, leading him to invent a fake service club that, naturally, takes off and spirals out of Cameron's control. The fast pace, incident-rich plotting, and economically delineated relationships make this an entertaining, twisty read. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
