RESTART by Gordon Korman

RESTART by Gordon Korman takes a different look at bullying. It asks the question, "Once a bully, always a bully?"

When Chase falls off the roof of his family's home, the result is amnesia. He wakes up in the hospital to strange faces claiming to be family and friends. Chase doesn't even recognize his own face when he demands to see a mirror.

Everything about his life has changed. Because of a severe concussion, he isn't allowed to play football. He isn't sure he wants to play football, except all his father talks about is what a great player he was with chances for another state championship.

Chase has no memory of his former friends so he has to trust what they are telling him. Aaron and Bear try to remind him that they are his closest friends and that they are a team both on and off the field. But, when Chase learns that the three of them are serving community service time at the local nursing home, he has his doubts about exactly what kind of friends they really are.

Other kids at school seem to steer clear of Chase, and the more he learns about his past, the more he realizes he was a bully. In fact, Chase and his buddies Aaron and Bear are the reason one kid actually switched to another school. Could he really have been the instigator of the prank that blew up a baby grand piano?

Readers of Korman's RESTART will follow Chase as he tries to discover who he was and who he really wants to be. Some believe he has changed for the better, but others don't think that is possible.