My 12 year old is a big fan of Gordon Korman and had read the previous books in this series, so he was excited to be able to check out a copy of this one early! He enjoyed the writing and continuation of the story and says he’ll recommend it to his friends.

This is an amazing book! Gordon Corman has done it again. The characters are believable and relatable. The story has just enough suspense to keep you guessing, but it is lighthearted and fun for the reader. While aspects felt a bit out of touch with reality, it was still relatable and engaging. I can’t wait to share this book with others.

I am a big fan of Gordon Korman and his books. My children and I will often listen to his stories as an audio book, though I have been known to read his books on my own. I look forward to sharing this book with my kids.

From the beginning, I have always appreciated the friendship that Noah and Donovan have and this book was no different. While I am growing in my affection for books with multiple points of view, there may have been one or two too many in Hypergifted. I really enjoyed that this could be a stand alone book in the series.

I did struggle with some parts of the story- I was really frustrated with Donovan's parents, Noah "attending" college at such a young age with NO adult supervision, and the fact that the boys had a secret for weeks on end, though I suspect that is part of what will make the book so much fun for a younger audience.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Gordon Korman has found a formula to keep readers engaged as he puts out lots of books every year. This one wasn’t my favorite though. It was fine but overall fell flat after so many that really drew me in over the last year.

Another great hit by a great author. My ten year old introduced me to this author. I primarily serve adults but have started a small collection for older kids in my hospital library since they sometimes stay. I will definitely be adding this book as well as the two first books in the series!
These are the type of books that have gotten reluctant readers to read more to find out what happens next and you can’t go wrong with that!

Hypergifted follows Noah and Donovan and their adventures on a college campus for the summer after Noah, kid-genious (13), recieves a full ride scholarship and is given the opportunity to bring with him one person of his choosing. Think of it like Young Sheldon but unsupervised. This is such a fun and engaging book, especially for middle readers. While the book does talk about college kids and at some moments their point of views, the writing is tasteful and age appropriate.

My only criticism, in my opinion, is that there was way too many points of views, seven. Some of the POVs were college-age teenagers and authority figure adults, which honestly weren't crucial to the

The first book was the best.

This book wasn't bad but definitely could have been better. However, I am a picky reader. Some of the things the characters did I didn't like. Some characters (actually, most of them) made very minimal progress throughout the narrative but maybe it was supposed to be that way? However, there were some moments to this book I liked. It was humorous and overall lighthearted.

Would I read it again? Probably not.

Content warnings: the story is set on a college campus so there are mentions of frat parties, a boy has a crush on a girl way older than him (adult to minor situation); however, she sees it as a friendship or even being motherly to the kid (and she already has a boyfriend), and some immature humor.

Note: I received an eARC copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Fun to be back with Donavon and Noah, expect at University! Love the setting and concept for this story. At first I was put off by the POV of college students in a middle grade book, but I think Korman nailed the strange pride that college kids have for their campus and the quirky things they may do. (Are middle schoolers and college kids really that different?) So many moving pieces to the story, never a slow moment.

Gordon Korman executes character building at it’s finest in Hypergifted, and there are a bunch. This allows readers vivid views inside several characters' minds. Each character had their own motivation for attending an elite college during the summer. Noah has an IQ of 206, and has been recruited right out of middle school completely skipping high school. Nervous about being a college freshman, he’s asked his best friend Donovan to spend the summer in the dorm to help him get acclimated to college life as a kid. We meet Raina, a new summer camp counselor, also a fraternity member, and other characters associated with the college.

Noah and Donovan are a quirky pair of friends. Noah is super smart and has difficulty thinking like other kids his age and mind set, but doesn't fit the mind set of college age kids either. He pretty tired of always being labeled the kid with the incredibly high IQ. Oddly, Noah’s favorite activity is watching YouTube videos. You thought it’d be working calculus problems right? Donovan’s summer break, plan involves keeping his butt on the middle couch cushion all summer watching mindless television. That is until his parents say he’ll be rooming with Noah in college!
When the boys arrive at Wilderton University, in order to keep Donovan occupied, he is given a job as a CIT (counselor in training), and very soon clashes with Raina. Also, and almost like characters themselves are Noah’s Elderberry plant and the college's pig mascot, Porquette.

Noah becomes obsessed with a highly secret group on the college campus called the Society of the Gavel. No one knows the identity of the members, that is, until they’ve died and no one knows what the group does. Members are secretly notified of their selection into the society, so no one knows what it even takes to become a member. Noah sees a challenge and plans to get himself into this secret group. He designs an AI program, leading to some poor decisions which leads to creating the Fibonacci Society, which no one but Noah understands. That didn’t work so well either!

This wonderfully, Gordon Korman style novel is engaging and quirky.

The many points of view, confused me at times although this strategy does break up the plot challenging readers to become more engaged. I like how the author saved us a nice surprise in the end.

Korman’s style as always is fun and appealing to middle-grade readers, and I recommend Hypergifted.

This was the continuation of the previous two middle grade stories. Following Noah and Donovan as they finish high school. The boys spend a summer at a college campus. It will be fun for readers to see where the boys end up. I wish Donovan had more character growth. My kids are a little too young for book three.

Donovan’s plans for a summer of doing nothing are thwarted when his best friend Noah (IQ 206) gets admitted straight into a prestigious university after middle school graduation. Donovan accompanies Noah for the summer term so he can get acclimated to college life. But not being hypergifted like Noah means that Donovan will spend his summer as a day camp counselor for university kids. Korman brings more characters in to narrate later chapters, but chaos ensues for both the genius with little common sense and the camp counselor who learns he can’t bluff his way through everything.

I know this is the 3rd book in the series; but it stood alone well. After finishing middle school, Noah and Donovan’s antics trying to navigate summer on a college campus were highly amusing! I’ve seen those super smart kids with no self-awareness. And I’ve seen those average students with all the street smarts. Putting them together makes for great balance!
This book will definitely be added to our school library.

In this latest book in the "Gifted" series by Gordon Korman, Noah Youkilis gets a college diploma and against his wishes, he is sent to college, even though he's way too young. But he can bring a friend along, so he picks Donovan Curtis, who doesn't want to go. Noah decides to create an AI program able to identify members of a secret society. But when it appears like Noah's elderberries have poisoned the school mascot, Donovan and Noah have to cover it up. What could possibly go wrong next?

I always read Korman's books with my son, so when this comes out, I think he will enjoy that previous characters are revisited and that he will enjoy the ending, which I also enjoyed. This was not my favorite of the series. I didn't have as much action (from what I can remember) and I have this "meh" feeling about it compared to the other books. Would I recommend it? Yes. I would always recommend Korman's books to my son and my students. It just seems as though maybe this series needs to come to an end.

Thanks to NetGalley and HyperCollins for this early copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Noah and Donovan head to college in this third volume of the Ungifted series.

I can't get enough of these guys - they get up to the biggest hijinks and funniest scenarios while just trying to be regular kids. Gordon Korman makes their stories relatable as they work through their true-to-life insecurities and misunderstandings as middle schoolers

Recommending for acquisition for middle school library.

Noah and Donovan are paired together again for a summer that is unexpected for both of them. At 8th grade graduation Noah gets advanced straight to college against his will and he's allowed to bring a friend along. Who does he pick, but his idol, super ordinary and super unpredictable Donovan. While Noah works on his high level AI project, Donovan works as a counselor-in-training at the school's summer camp for kids.

This book is pure silliness and fun. There are plenty of shenanigans to go around. Some things readers will encounter are a pig in a bathtub, a poker playing grandma, a secret society, a made up secret society, a honey badger, a disappearing-reappearing camper, and so much more.

I enjoyed the first book of this series, Ungifted. I have not read the second book, Supergifted yet. I was glad to know the characters before reading this story, but I think it could easily be picked up as a stand alone without reading the first two books. I will happily recommend this book in my classroom and to readers I know. It's just fun with no baggage. I think some students are really looking for that.

Great book for middle grade boys (and girls) who think they don’t like to read. Includes things that make them giggle–pigs, smart classmates who aren’t socially smart, ‘secret’ societies, good friends, computers, did I mention pigs? Precocious 13 year old is selected to attend college early and may bring one friend with him for the summer session. The ‘genius’ lacks common sense and is protected by his sensible buddy when they stay in the college dorm. With the college mascot–a pig-kept in the bathtub. How could anything go wrong???

This book was really fun. I love that this series is still going strong, all these years later. Was it a little hard to believe? Definitely. But that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I would probably say I liked Ungifted a little more than this one, but they both have so much to enjoy for readers.

This is not the summer vacation Donovan Curtis had in mind. Instead of settling in on the couch, Donovan is accompanying Noah—his friend with a 206 IQ—to his first semester at Wilderton College. Noah begins taking college classes while Donovan is a Counselor in Training for a group of eight-year-olds, and each boy is faced with unexpected challenges. With secrecy at the heart of everything, the two companions find themselves immersed in a comical and unlikely series of events from which it is difficult to emerge. But life has a way of remedying even the strangest of wrongs, and with enough patience and wisdom, the summer becomes one the two boys will never forget. This humorous middle grade novel is told from multiple points of view, utilizing unique and memorable voices to recount each character’s story. Each chapter is brief and adds forward momentum to the plot, giving readers more information than any one character has on their own. Not only are there secrets in the college landscape itself, but more enigmas are built upon one another as the story progresses, and the characters must become devious in order to achieve their goals. Though Noah is the only protagonist with a genius IQ, the narrative demonstrates that intelligence comes in many forms, and a high IQ score does not necessarily equate to overall intelligence. Showcasing the increasing independence middle grade students are developing, this book effectively features a selection of youth who are learning to shoulder increasing amounts of responsibility. Funny and mysterious, this clever novel is an enjoyable addition to library collections for upper middle grade readers.

The third Ungifted MG book out in 2026!
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Noah and Donovan are back! It’s the summer after 8th grade graduation and Noah has just graduated HIGH SCHOOL as an 8th grader and is being sent off to college for the summer due to his high intelligence. Donovan is not happy at all when Noah chooses for him to attend the university as well, with Donovan being a camp counselor. But the summer turns out to be more wild than either of them imagine with a first crush, missing potbelly pig, a camp kid who disappears for hours at a time, a new AI program that goes rogue and a secret society Noah is desperate to be a part of.
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If you’re familiar with the first two books in this series then you will love the return of these two boys and the shenanigans they get into. At its core this novel series is about friendship, seeing things from others’ point of view and not growing up too fast. This title releases February 3!

Note: I received a DRC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

“Hypergifted” is the third book in the “Ungifted” trilogy, as this book focuses on Noah, the boy genius, and Donovan, a regular teen, and their friendship with each other as Noah heads to Wilderton University over the summer, and Donovan ends up getting dragged along as well, told through several characters points of view. If you enjoyed the first two books in the “Ungifted” series, then you will definitely enjoy this book.

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