Slacker

• Genre: Fiction; middle-grade humor
• Originally Published: 2016
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 710L; grades 4-7
• Structure/Length: 33 chapters; approx. 240 pages; 5 hours and 34 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Cameron Boxer is a slacker whose house nearly burns down when he gets engrossed in a video game, so he and his friends invent a fake club at school to appear less like slackers. Cameron is stuck being president when some of his classmates think the club is real.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Use of a gaming name that pokes fun at violence (“Evil McKillPeople”)

Gordon Korman, Author

• Bio: Born in 1963 in Montreal, Canada; currently lives in New York with his wife and family; holds a BFA from New York University; has written over 80 novels; published his first novel as a freshman in high school
• Other Works: The Toilet Paper Tigers (1993); Son of the Mob (2002); Born to Rock (2006); Swindle (2008); Restart (2017)
• Awards: Short-listed for the Cybils Award for middle-grade fiction (2016)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Contributing to Something Greater
• The Importance of Community
• Cooperation Versus Competition

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Consider the benefits of getting involved in one’s community through the examination of Cameron’s character arc.