Gordon Korman I Want To Go Home

[Patrizia Leones]

Asfor what became of Rudy and Mike. I'm sure Mike is an accountant, or a lawyer, leading a life of quiet satisfaction and personal happiness. Rudy, on the other hand, always struck me as a professional flagpole sitter. He would also be happy and comfortable with his life. It would just be a little unconventional, that's all. He is, after all, Rudy.

My story echoes your own. The adventures of Rudy and Mike are by far my favorite stories presented to us by Gordon. I have read my copy of the book many times, and have had to replace the book at least once now because of high use. I have God-Children now whom I have bestowed copies of the book, I feel it is that timeless a novel.

Despite the technology updates made in the revised edition (I get it... kids these days don't know what a tape deck is!) the story has remained as true today as it did when I read it for the first time oh so many years ago.

PETRA: We think that when Rudy grew up, he became the Algonkian Camp Director! He would be perfect. The pillowfight was great, especially how Rudy blamed it on Harold and how Rudy and Mike just sat there and made it not their fault.

I don't think we'll ever see a movie, though. I wrote that book back in 1981, and if no film company has latched onto it so far, I guess it's not going to happen. Sorry. I agree -- I think it would make an amazing movie!

Thanks for posting and for turning another generation onto Rudy Miller! I'm not sure what his appeal is, but I suspect it's his talent for mouthing off at his elders. Or perhaps it's his own self-respect and dignity. I was all of 15 when I wrote I WANT TO GO HOME and, yes, I went to camp and VERY much wanted to go home. But I made up Algonkian Island. It sounded like a very camp-ish name to me.

Rudy Miller, the novel's protagonist, is a loner who is sent to camp against his wishes by his school's guidance department. Exceptional at virtually everything, he hates everything about camp and anything that has to do with sports. Very literal and logical, he, with his new friend Mike Webster, attempt to escape the island in an effort to return home, an action they both fail throughout the book (there is reference at the end to them eventually escaping a number of times, only to come back and try try again.) Rudy has a little brother, Jeffery, who is remarkably like him.

Mike Webster is Rudy's best friend at camp. He shares much of the same attitude toward camp and sports in particular as Rudy does and laughs at all of Rudy's witty remarks. Consequently, his laugh is very infectious and usually ends up making whole crowds laugh. He was sent to camp for getting high grades in school and considers that if this was his parents' idea of a reward, than he would've probably gotten into a lot more serious trouble if he had failed. Mike has a younger sister called Vicky.

Chip is Rudy and Mike's bunk counselor. Chip is peppy and cheery to begin with, but quickly becomes short-tempered and irritated due to Rudy's antics. He easily gets fed up with all of Rudy's constant remarks and escape attempts. He's usually the one who captures or foils Rudy and Mike's escape attempts or is the first one to figure them out. Despite Chip's constant vows to kill the two and fear of sounding like them, he is the only counselor who appears the most worried about them when they get lost. He defends Rudy from all the other counselors (including Head Counselor Frank) when they want to force Rudy to play on their teams in order to win camp championships against other camps.

Harold Greene is Rudy and Mike's enemy. Sneering and smart-mouthed, Harold constantly puts down, makes remarks, or makes fun of both Rudy and Mike for not participating in anything and generally being different. Harold refers to both Rudy and Mike as "Nuts." In return, Mike refers to Harold as a "twit." While Rudy was the original target of Harold's snide comments, the verbal fights that ensue between them are really Harold making a comment and Mike standing up for Rudy, while Rudy maintains a neutral presence and simply adds in neutral observations or requests. As a result of Harold's verbal hostility he's a target for Rudy's retaliation (such as filling his shoes with garbage, then spilling it into his pillow when he's ordered to spill the waste out, or removing the wooden slats that support his mattress to build a box, and then capitalizing his resulting fall on top of Adam Willis below him as the catalyst for a major pillow fight (to be blamed on him for "Jumping on Adam for no reason at all").

Frank, the Head Counselor, is in charge of all the counselors and is the first one at the beginning to ask the Warden, "Is there any last problems that we should know about?" foreshadowing the major problem Rudy becomes for the entire staff.

Pierre is the counselor in charge of Arts and Crafts. He criticizes Chip's humorless handling of Rudy and Mike, initially believing that some activity (like Arts and Crafts) will keep the boys from running away. After he is proven wrong in this aspect, he tries to play along with Rudy's humor, thus being able to foresee an escape plan, but not the chaos caused by the attempted escape. He admires Rudy's wit.

Mr. Warden is the Camp Director. His grandfather, Elias Warden, founded the camp thirty years prior to the present in the book and usually states, every time something unusual or not normal happens, "This is Camp Algonkian Island. It was founded thirty-one years ago by my grandfather, Elias Warden, and never once, before today, has [anything not normal happened]."A middle-aged man with bow legs who apparently doesn't like kids, he strictly lives by the time in which his grandfather was director of the camp, meaning nothing to him can be different now from then. This stern belief usually blinds him from current problems or preventing future problems, and he remains completely oblivious to virtually any of the actions or events that take place in the novel. He's the first to find out that a newcomer to the camp, Rudy Miller, could potentially become a problem, but forgets about that due to kids never being a problem and always loving camp in his grandfather's age. He lives by this one rule: That's the way it was then, that's the way it is now.

On its republication in 2004, Resource Links proclaimed that the book is "good, even great at times" and that it "will be as popular with young readers today as it was more than 20 years ago".[1] CM Magazine said that while it "[won't] ever be considered great literature", it is a "laugh out loud adventure" and a "Canadian classic"; however they also felt that the character of Mr Warden was "questionable".[2]

Rudy Miller is sent to camp all summer but he doesn't want to go. He thinks leaving would be way more enjoyable.So Rudy starts to cause mischief and sneaks away to try and escape. Then after being forced to join in on the camp actives Rudy discovers his amazing sports abilities.So by the end of camp will Rudy want to stay or will Rudy still want to go homeAnd if your around 9-12 this book will be good for you because it isn't to easy but it isn't to hard and it is really interesting.

This was a hillarious book. You should read this book if you like humour. The characters were amazing. This book had absolute amazing description. I could picture what was happening in my head. This reminds me of going to camp.

In conjunction with the Summer Challenge, Governors' Spouses from across the nation are signing up to serve as "Reading Ambassadors" to help spread the important message about reading books over the summer in their respective states. This is the second year the Spouses are supporting this cause. As part of their participation, Scholastic will donate 500 books to a school selected by each First Spouse, to ensure that children have books to take home to read over the summer vacation.

"Summer reading is a perfect activity that provides entertainment while keeping students' learning skills strong," said Francie Alexander, Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic. "The Scholastic Summer Challenge engages kids and allows them to choose the books they want to read, connect with other readers, and make reading part of summer fun."

What is the Scholastic Summer Challenge for Kids?

Kids ages eight and up can find great books and log their reading minutes to help set a new Read for the World Record. The minutes logged help earn virtual rewards for each child participant and are also credited to their school. At the end of the summer, the top 20 schools with the most minutes logged will be featured in the 2011 edition of the Scholastic Book of World Records. Throughout the summer, kids can also track their minutes, play book-themed games, create and share reading wish lists, and chat about books with other readers from around the world. Younger readers, ages seven and under, have their own fun challenge: for every book they read and log online, kids earn seeds to plant and grow in their own virtual reading garden. On behalf of all the readers participating in the Summer Challenge, Scholastic will make a donation of 50,000 books to kids in need through Reading Is Fundamental, a children's literacy non-profit.

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