Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Middle schoolers have college hijinks in wacky sequel.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Unfortunately for Donovan Curtis, his plans to spend the summer after 8th grade doing absolutely nothing are foiled when his HYPERGIFTED pal Noah (IQ 206, social skills zero) gets a free ride to college and brings Donovan along to help him adjust and keep him out of trouble. Noah soon finds the classes easy-peasy and everything else pretty challenging, even before he gets his first crush and falls hard for a 19-year-old with a biker boyfriend. Donovan, meanwhile, finds himself managing 8-year-old campers, one of whom disappears a lot. Also there are prank-minded frat boys, overwhelmed bureaucrats, an antisocial honey badger, and a very large pig named Porquette. And then Noah's AI project goes off the rails.
Is It Any Good?
Middle schoolers go to college, finding all kinds of new and exciting trouble to get into in Gordon Korman's tale of frat boys, student journalists, 8-year-old campers, animal mascots, and rogue AI. There's never a dull moment as Hypergifted offers plenty of wacky doings and challenges to "ordinary kid" Donovan's coping skills, and with brilliant Noah completely out of his depth socially, there's a lot to cope with. It's a fun, lively read with upbeat life lessons amid the laughs, and strong messages of friendship, appreciation for the talents of others, and doing your best.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about stories like Hypergifted that put characters in fish-out-of-water settings—like 13-year-olds in college. What other stories do you like that explore this theme? Have you ever felt that way yourself?
Secret societies (that may or may not exist) are a big part of the story here, at least in the characters' minds. If you were to start a secret society, what would it be about and who would you invite? How would you make the rules?
Have you ever been in a situation where it seemed like you were the only person who had any sense? What was going on, and what happened?
What do you think you'd like about being in college? What might not be so great?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Humor
- Topics : Animals , Friendship , School , STEM
- Character Strengths : Empathy , Humility , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
- Publication date : February 3, 2026
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 272
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : February 11, 2026
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