Slacker

Slacker by Gordon Korman
Published by Scholastic Press in 2016

Summary: Cameron Boxer is a hyper focused on preparing his skills for the video game challenge of Rule the World. He is to busy in his video game to follow through with a request his mother gives him. He fails to take food out of the oven and the fire department knocks the front door off to get to the smoking oven. Cam is in the basement oblivious to the happening up stairs. His parents do not approve of all the time he spends on his video games. Which he calls his "Lifestyle." His friend Pavil and Chuck help him create a fake club that Cam is the president of. To Cam's dismay the club becomes a real deal. The counselor takes the group on and lots of kids join. It takes on a life of it's own and Cam is not happy. The club begins to consume his time and he does not have time to play video games. One of the projects is to create a habitat for "Elvis" a beaver. The community is also about to lose is one exit off the highway for the expansion of the new mall. The high school club gets wind of all the press the Middle School club is getting and they start to sabotage the club. In the end Cam and his friends help save the community exit and Elvis.

Gordon Korman creates multiple characters in this story that a variety of readers can relate to. The story is humorous, but underneath the humor the message that one person can make a difference if they try.