Losing Joe's Place

Losing Joe's Place is a 1990 children's novel by Gordon Korman.[1][2] The book was first published on April 1, 1990 through Scholastic and follows the adventures of three small town Ontario boys (Jason, Ferguson and Don) as they live in Jason's brother's (Joe) apartment in Toronto for a summer.[3] However, there is one catch: Under no circumstances can they cause Joe to lose his lease. Losing Joe's Place was listed on YALSA's "Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults 2001".[4]

Losing Joe's Place
First edition
AuthorGordon Korman
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's fiction
Published1990, Scholastic
Media typePrint, e-book, audiobook
Pages233 pages
ISBN0-590-42768-7

According to WorldCat, the book is held in 659 libraries[5]

Plot

The novel starts in September, after Joe Cardone, the brother of the main character, has come back from his trip to Europe, and after the summer in Toronto for Jason Cardone (Joe's brother) and his two friends, Don and Ferguson (Peachfuzz) the novel chronicles. They have lost his lease and he is taking out his temper on Jason. September ends with Jason calling Don and Ferguson so they can start looking for a new place for Joe to live. The novel then flashes back to the previous June.

When in Toronto, they couldn't have been expecting everything that happened, from Joe's Camaro going missing (more than once), a crazy landlord and the loss of more jobs than they can count on their fingers. From money problems and the risk of losing Joe's place, to making their landlord's deli, Olympian, into a hip, trendy cafe using chocolate cake mix as the main ingredient in every recipe called Chocolate Delight, anything is possible and everything may happen.

Characters
  • Ferguson. Often referred to by his nickname, Peachfuzz, he is extremely smart and has been shown to be able to tell if something is wrong with a car by just listening to it - and correctly identifying the problem with it, He caused Jasons and Dons departure from their first employer in Toronto when he was able to modernize it, saving the company millions but causing the job loss of his friends. Don is shown to have a dislike of him.
  • Mr. Plotnick. Joe's landlord. A spendthrift, he only replaces items when someone breaks a piece of it, at which point he replaces the whole thing, makes it look really fancy and charges the damager the bill. Also the owner of the Olympian Deli (and later Chocolate Delight), which is located underneath the apartment complex that Joe lives in. Using pipes and heating ducts, he has the ability to hear everyone in his building and give them unsolicited advice and opinions.
  • Rootbeer Racinette. A huge, hulking figure with a new hobby almost everyday, including (but not limited to) painting, model airplanes, money, stamps, balloon blowing, the kazoo and telescopes. He is also a believer in a special type of meditation that makes it look like the meditator is dead. He has been shown to make a large amount of money at various times by making outrageous bets, such as destroying a tire by biting it and fighting professional wrestlers for minimal money. He is Joe's friend which is how he is able to move into their apartment, much to the dismay of everyone involved (except, of course, himself). Note the joke with his name. In French, Racinette means rootbeer, causing his name to be Rootbeer Rootbeer.
  • Jessica. A love interest of Don and Ferguson. She is shown to be absolutely inadept at cooking (having failed Foods) and cleaning, often losing interest in seconds leaving Jason to finish it. She later works at Chocolate Delight.
  • Joe Cardone. Jason's brother. A bodybuilder and renter of the apartment that Jason, Don and Ferguson stay at. Friend of Rootbeer Racinette.

Reception

The Canadian Review of Materials praised Losing Joe's Place, remarking that it was "fast paced with great characters and full of unbelievable events that we would all like to believe possible!"[6] The Horn Book Guide also gave a favorable review, calling it the "ultimate teenage fantasy".[7]

References
  1. Elliott, Joan B.; Dupuis, Mary M. (2002). Young Adult Literature in the Classroom: Reading It, Teaching It, Loving it. International Reading Association. p. 24. ISBN 9780872071735. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  2. Richards Bodart, Joni (1996). Booktalking the Award Winners: Young Adult Retrospective Volume. H.W. Wilson. p. 169. ISBN 9780824208776. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  3. Lesesne, Teri S (March 1, 1991). "Electric Reading: Powerful Books for Young Adults" (PDF). Paper presented at the Annual Southwest Regional Conference of the International Reading Association: 4. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  4. "Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults 2001". YALSA. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  5. WorldCat book entry
  6. Young, Gerri (July 1990). "LOSING JOE'S PLACE (review)". Canadian Review of Materials. 18 (4). Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  7. "Losing Joe's Place (review)". Horn Book Guide. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
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