Operation Do-Over is a 2021 Gordon Korman Comedy/Drama/Time-Travel book. Mason and Ty are stereotypical geeks and best friends until they let their rivalry for Class Princess Ava's affections turn them into bitter enemies for the next five years (which also costs both of them a chance with Ava). This leads to Mason being expelled after a fight with Ty during their junior year and getting into a car crash soon afterward. However, the car crash sends Mason's consciousness back in time to when he was twelve, right before he and Ty first met Ava. Sensing that Set Right What Once Went Wrong is at play, Mason strives to keep Ava from coming between him and Ty (which is easier said than done), keep his parents from divorcing, ensure that his dog will not die in a traffic accident, treat his and Ty's Butt-Monkey friend Clarisse better, and find a way to stop the bullying that will plague him for the next five years.
Tropes:
- Academic Athlete: Clarisse is the only student in the school who is as academically-inclined as Ty and Mason. After witnessing her display amazing speed when she runs away from an argument with him, Mason convinces her to join the track team so she can improve her social status and sense of character the way football has improved him. Clarisse hates doing it at first, but by the last chapter, she's setting track records for the whole county while retaining her high academic standing, and she clearly loves it.Ava: She's a cheetah, and a tyrant when it comes to science fair projects.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Mason's sister Serena is three years younger than him and her dialogue toward him tends to be mocking.
- The Benchwarmer: Mason does display some good stamina and tolerance for pain on the football field, but he's only ever the backup for another backup player. He only gets to play when the coach is desperate or wants to teach Dominic a lesson for mocking Mason's inclusion on the team. Mason does get some good accidental athlete moments, like causing another in a rival team'd player to accidentally trip over him, earning a pivotal moment, but he never reaches the level of the other players. Even in the altered timeline, back in 2021, Mason still gets minimal playing time after five years on the team, although he's fine with this.
- Class Princess: Ava is a scientifically-minded Head-Turning Beauty who is nice to Mason and Ty and interested in their projects, even after spending five years hanging with the popular crowd instead of them. She also feels terrible about accidentally being the catalyst for Ty and Mason ending their friendship. After Mason goes back in time, he inadvertently changes history so that Ava starts hanging out with Ty and the popular kids while fitting in well with both of them.
- Bully Turned Buddy: Mason is constantly bullied by two football players named Dominic and Miggy. After Mason joins the football team and displays impressive determination, stamina, good humor and team spirit, Miggy starts to accept Mason and shows a nicer side. Dominic remains a cruel and sour Jerk Jock who hates Mason's presence, but improves after the Time Skip in the final chapters when Mason's mind gets sent back to his older body in an altered timeline. By that point, Dominic is willing to give him a friendly high-five after a football game.
- Cool Teacher:
- Ms. Alexander (Mrs. Nekomis after her marriage) is encouraging and supportive of Mason and Ty's science projects. After she's accidentally injured during a fight between Mason and Ty prior to the time travel scenes, she doesn't blame Mason and unsuccessfully tries to keep him from being expelled over the school's zero tolerance policy toward harming teachers.
- Coach Gallo usually puts a stop to Dominic's bullying and respects the effort Mason puts into football practice enough to compliment him over other more talented but less determined players.
- Phony Psychic: Zigzagged. A palm reader who everyone else views as a fraud seems to be able to tell that Mason is a time traveler and comments on the "two paths" ahead of him. He spends a long time trying to track her down again for elaboration, only for the fortune teller to claim she's a fraud and that the "two paths" line is something she says to all of her customers. However, in the final scene, Mason spots her in 2021 and notes that she looks younger, and she winks mysteriously when she notices him.
