Blog 4 - The Juvie Three

The novel The Juvie Three by Canadian author Gordon Korman is based on the life of three teenagers, Graham “Gecko” Fosse, Terence Florian and Arjay Moran. All three boys were serving time in juvenile detention centers until one day all of the them were granted a second chance through Douglas Healy. He was in juvie for most of his childhood as well. Healy is allowed to try an experiment were he can give Gecko, Arjay and Terrence a second chance to live with him in a halfway house in New York City.

Throughout their time with Healy he sends them to do community service, to school and also therapy but one night Healy is accidentally knocked unconscious while trying to break up a fight between the teens. Not knowing what to do and scared of what would happen the boys dropped him of at a hospital. When Healy wakes up he doesn’t remember anything about the halfway house or any of the boys. The three come up with a crazy plan to just continue life as if he was still there so they wouldn’t get sent back to juvenile hall. They do everything to make it look like Healy is still there like going to school, therapy and helping with community services. Life gets a lot harder for them once Arjay becomes famous, Gecko falls in love and Terence starts to act like he did before juvie.

I think the theme in this novel is having a second chance and giving chances. The boys are given a second chance to start their life over again and not to screw it up by committing felonies that get them in trouble with the law.

The author Gordon Korman writes in third person narrative. It is very effective because we can read the book the way the author wants it to be read and also lets you know some things that characters in the novel may not.

A big issue in the this novel that is pertained generally to adolescents is second chances. Many teens are giving second chances, some use them correctly and they can change their lives and others do not and screw up a good chance to make a better life for their selves. In the novel the boys all seem to use their second chance wisely until Terence goes back to his old ways.

There wasn’t really anything that was common in the novel specifically to our English class but it is pretty common to teachers giving us (students) second chances on assignments and tests we didn’t do to well on or missed out on, as well as our parents giving us second chances sometimes.


I think the author Gordon Korman did a very good job and the only thing he could do to make the novel better is by making it longer to show more about the boys when their stories are finished.

I would definitely recommend this novel because it is funny but also serious which is a good blend and makes it fun to read. I’d say this book relates more to teens than kids, so I would recommend it to high school students that want a good laugh but also like a serious and life changing book.

There are many rhetorical terms in the book The Juvie Three and one that I found is a simile, “I can’t talk to someone who’s chained like an animal!” (Pg. 15, paragraph. 4) Another rhetorical term is repetition, “…stop, stop it.” (Pg. 187, paragraph 2) One more rhetorical term is a metaphor, “The snake eyes narrow.” (Pg. 201, paragraph. 5)

Overall this is a great book. It has serious moments but also has moments with good comedy. Pick it up if you want an amazing read by a great Canadian author.

Thanks,
Logan Semple