Follow TV Tropes

Following

Literature / Supergifted

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supergifted.jpg

Supergifted is a Children's-to-Middle Schooler's novel by Gordon Korman. It's a sequel to Ungifted.

Life goes on for Donovan Curtis after his time at the Academy of Scholastic Distinction. The major changes are that now he shares his room with his brother-in-law's dog, Beatrice, and her puppy, Kandahar (Kandy for short). Also, now he's looking after ex-ASD student, Noah Youkilis.

And Noah LOVES it at Hardcastle Middle School. Because there, Noah has run into the opportunity to do the one thing he never could back at the academy. He's failing classes. He even may have to take remedial courses.

Anyway, one day, after an altercation involving Noah, Beatrice, and local Jerk Jock Hash "Hashtag" Taggart, Donovan finds he now has to keep a good distance from "Hashtag", lest Beatrice be branded a "vicious dog" by Hash's family and put down. Donovan tries to keep this promise, but Noah won't sit idly by and let his friend's honour go undefended. So he decides to dress up in makeshift-WWE garb and go fight Hashtag himself.

Of course, Donovan has to violate the promise he made to the Taggarts to go stop Noah from being twisted into a human pretzel. He tracks Noah to the Taggarts' home and tries to talk Noah out of his plan, and then they have to hide when a large tanker truck full of gas stops in the Taggarts' driveway. Noah deduces that the truck's brakes can't hold the massive weight of the truck, and lo and behold, the truck starts barreling down the hill... straight towards the house across the street!

Not thinking, Donovan jumps into the driver's seat and manages to change the truck's direction so it misses the house and rolls into the pool. Donovan and Noah escape before anyone sees them, but soon the whole town is talking about the mysterious "Superkid" who saved Megan Mercury and her family, since it was their house that Donovan saved.

The whole town is asking for this mysterious hero to come forward so they can thank him. However, Donovan can't, because that would mean the Taggart's would realize he was at their house, and Beatrice would be taken away by Animal Control. So Noah decides to take the rap for him. Soon enough, Noah becomes the town darling. Being mobbed by legions of fans, being In with the In Crowd, and appearing on The Russ Trussman Hour.

Of course, Donovan finds he's getting jealous of Noah's newfound fame, partly because he knows Noah is covering for him. That said, he also thinks that the fame is going to Noah's head, and that it may be a matter of time before Noah lets slip, the truth comes out, and Beatrice is in serious trouble.

The book was published on January 2nd, 2018.


Supergifted contains examples of:

  • Alliterative Name: The cheerleader captain's name is Megan Mercury.
  • Cassandra Truth: In chapter 12, Donovan tells Chloe the truth of who saved the Mercury household. She assumes he and Noah made the whole story up from how he made it sound, and assumes the truck hit a curb and changed direction.
  • Cheap Costume: In chapter 6, Noah dresses up in a makeshift WWE wrestling costume made from long underwear (the bottom of which he spray-painted black so his shoes would look like boots), a sweatshirt cut open with scissors, his mother's gardening gloves, and leather dress shoes.
  • Fun with Acronyms: In chapter 14, Donovan tells Noah that the key to a good lie is K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
  • Geek Physique: Noah is described as "short and skinny, with an eager, slightly bent posture".
  • Narrative Profanity Filter: In chapter 7, when the driver of the propane truck finds said truck in the Mercurys' pool, he lets loose what Donovan describes as "a series of words that would have sent my mother running for a sponge to wash his mouth out with soap", therefore also getting Soap Punishment in.
  • Parents as People: At one point, Donovan discovers Brad in the bathroom, having just got his baby daughter back to sleep. When he sees Donovan, he confides in him that he has no real idea how to parent a child. He knows what to do on the battlefield, but not what to do with his new baby.
  • Switching P.O.V.: Like Ungifted before it, the story is narrated from multiple different perspectives, from Donovan, to Noah, to the Daniels, to Megan.
  • Tears of Joy: Noah sheds these in the final chapter when he reads the letter to his parents stating that he would be taking remedial courses. By then, he was expelled for making GradeWorm and put back in the Academy, but he was happy all the same.
  • Verbed Title: Supergifted, obviously.

Top