Super-athlete Yash skipped 8th grade PE to play on JV teams at the high school. At the end of the year, though, the state changed policies abruptly and required all 8th graders to have a specific PE credit before being able to advance to 9th grade. Yash is forced to attend summer school PEE (Physical Education Equivalent) with the Slugs (non-athletes). When a new kid moves in and threatens Yash's JV quarterback position, he navigates through being the bigger person and doing the right thing, even when what the right thing is gets confusing.

Classic Korman - real life kid problems, kids being leaders and doing the right thing, and humor....lots of humor! this book is a must for middle grade library collections!

My middle schoolers eat up anything by Gordon Korman. I have a crew of PE hating kids this year who would find this book so relatable. I love how his books appeal to all different kids and not one group in particular. Told with his usual fast pace and sense of humor, kids will be entertained and intrigued by how “PEE” or “Slug Fest” turns out.

A definite win for Gordon Korman fans! Slugfest’s rich and relatable characters bring this sports story to life as Yash, a superstar athlete unfairly forced into summer school to earn a missing PE credit, navigates a summer that didn’t go as planned. As he joins a unique group of fellow PE students, led by a quirky and untraditional teacher, he learns more than he ever expected about sports, teamwork, friendship, and himself.

I really enjoyed this title. It was good to hear different narrator's point of view, and the story was engaging. I liked that this book should appeal to a variety of readers; including those who like sports fiction, friendship stories, humorous stories, and more. The characters were relatable, and easy to identify with. This was a heartwarming and winning story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the electronic ARC. In Slugfest we first meet Archie/Yash, who is an amazing athlete, and is so great that he has been able to skip PE all 8th grade year in order to play on the JV teams at the high school. Unfortunately, for Yash, the state intervenes and says he needs to take summer PE in order to move on to 9th grade. This means he misses working and training with the football team all summer.
Yash is not the only one who needs to take summer P.E.E. or Slugfest, Cleo, also a gifted athlete who has just recovered from a serious foot injury and has sworn off sports, Kaden, a brilliant, but klutzy student, two fighting twins, serial PE skipper, Arabella, and Fiona a tech wiz and on the water polo team To make matters even worse, the class is taught by a retired teacher, Mrs. Finnerty, who taught 2nd grade and FACs, so definitely not a PE teacher.
Korman has a huge band of readers in my school so this will be an easy sell because like his other books, it's just the right length, plot driven, with excellent character development, and a mix of realistic and humor; Fans of any underdog sports tales will enjoy his latest.

Slugfest was a book about a group of kids who couldn’t be more different who learn to work together and accept each other for who they are and the talents they have to offer. This is a great book for kids of all ages. It will help them understand that it is ok to be yourself and that anyone can be a great friend even if they have different interests than you.

I loved this book, particularly the overall positive message that should land this book in every middle school classroom and library!

The cast and characters are well rounded and realistic, and they reminded me of what you might find if "The Breakfast Club" met middle grade summer school. And I loved the baking PE teacher! With the multiple POV's, there's a bit of something for everyone (including sports, humor, and encouragement). It's easy to root for the underdogs (such as "The Mighty Ducks"), and "Slugfest" is chock full of those characters you can't help but root for and love. I used to teach, and I wish this book had been around then, as I would've loved reading this book and discussing it with my students. I will certainly recommend this to teachers I know! I look forward to reading future books from Korman.

GREAT middle school fiction blending brains and brawn. I am not a sports person but I thoroughly enjoyed the side football plot. The baking gym teacher was fun too. Lots of conflict and character growth.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Gordon Korman, and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Yash is not only the best athlete at his school but he's also the best athlete in his town. Yash is so good he is playing on the JV high school team while he's an 8th grader. Yash is shocked at the end of 8th grade when he learns his JV practices do not count for his middle school gym credit and he will have to take summer gym. To graduate middle school, Yash will have to go to summer gym or also known as "Slugfest".

Slugfest introduces Yash to a wide variety of different characters including his teacher, Mrs. Finnerty who has them do weird fitness activities but also feeds them a sweet treat each day.

Yash's biggest concern is missing his JV football practices due to being at Slugfest especially when a new kid moves to town and could take his place on the team. The only change Yash has to be starting QB on the high school JV team is to train hard and win the flag football tournament. Yash recruits his fellow Slugfests to help him train and be on his team. The only question is, will they be able to do it?

I absolutely loved this book! As a teacher, it's nice to see characters who are athletes treat non athletic students respectfully. I loved Yash's character and seeing how he developed over the book. I look forward to recommending this book to others!!

Slugfest is another Gordon Korman hit!

Fab characters? Check!
Multiple POVs that are unique and interesting and add to the understanding of the overall picture? Check!
Humor? Check!
Sports? Check!
Inspirational? Check!
Mystery and intrigue in the form of investigative journalism? Check!

Fans of movies like The Mighty Ducks and fans of the underdogs in general will surely love this story!

I plan to recommend it for future Battle of the Books list in our district and will definitely be purchasing a few copies for our library.

This book was excellent! I didn't know what to expect but once I got into the story, not only did I get hooked, but I was also rooting so hard for the Slugs! I love an underdog story and this one captured the middle school vibes perfectly.

Slugfest is what summer school PE is called in this novel. A group of kids come together (I adore books that bring kids together who would never spend any time together otherwise) because they are all missing that mandatory physical education credit needed to graduate 8th grade and move onto high school. I know what you're thinking. Who fails PE? But all of these kids have their reasons, including 2 of the best athletes in the entire school.

Add in a former home economics teacher who spends all her time baking and bringing in cookies and other desserts to the students, and you've got an interesting group!

Not only do the kids become friends and learn from each other, they help each other out and come together as a team. What a great story and a wonderful lesson about friendship.

Terrific addition to any classroom or home library!

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This book is classic Gordon Korman writing - alternating POVs, a wacky-but-not-impossible scenario, diverse characters, laughs, and big feelings. As an elementary school librarian, I really appreciate how Korman tackles different genres and manages to connect with kids every time. This time, he takes on sports fiction with a group of kids who have nothing in common except the unfortunate luck that they have to retake 8th grade PE in middle school.

Korman is an auto-buy author for my library, and I am excited to add this title to our collection. While I’m not a big fan of sports fiction in general, I still enjoyed this story (although I admit I mostly skimmed the flag football play-by-plays towards the end of the book) and have several readers in mind who will really love it! Even though the characters in the book are about to enter 9th grade, this book is definitely more MG than YA and is a good fit for grades 3-5.

What a fantastic novel for upper middle grade students, especially sports fans. Korman is back with another thoughtful story about a group of middle school misfits who are thrown together for summer school because they didn't pass PE. I loved this one and can't wait to share it with students!

Thanks to NetGalley and Balzer + Bray publishing for allowing me to read an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Korman has assembled a ragtag group of 8th graders all trying to make it through summer school PE (aka Slugfest) so they can start high school in the fall. Due to a new state law requiring all 8th grade students to complete a PE credit before they can move on to high school, 8 students, who have nothing in common are all stuck in summer school Physical Education Equivalency- P.E.E. (insert 8th grade humor here.)
*Yash thought he was excused because he had been playing JV sports with the high school teams.
*It took Cleo almost 3 months of missed school to heal from a broken foot.
*Arabella believes that forcing PE is a violation of student rights, so she just skipped PE for 3 years.
*Kaden, who is a genius but clumsy, skipped PE all year to avoid being bullied.
*Jesse's practical jokes keep him in hot water with the administration, and has now landed him in summer school PE.
*Fiona, who plays water polo, failed PE because she refuses to put her face in the water when swimming.
*Sarah & Stewart, twins, got kicked out of PE for constantly fighting (each other.)

But it is not just fun and games, there is a scandal about to break, a social media experiment, and lots of baking to be done.

This one will have you laughing out loud. Your students are going to love it!

Content warning- bullying

You can always count on a good book from Gordon Korman. In Slugfest, we meet Yash, the town golden boy who plays every sport. However, due to a bizarre twist of fate, he has the humbling experience of having to go to summer school to make up PE credits that he lost in order to graduate from the 8th grade. The summer PE Equivalency class is also known as slugfest because only “slugs” can’t pass PE. To add insult to injury, while he plays duck duck goose with a PE teacher who doesn’t seem to know a thing about PE, a new phenom appears at the summer football practice that he has to miss.

The story is told in alternate perspectives of Yash and the other kids in the class. You have your typical social outcasts, nerds, and another jock who has sworn off sports. Unique situations push and pull this group together in a great book about friendship, sports, and trusting those around you.

Fairness, friendship, and football! Once again, Gordon Korman crafts humorous and emotional characters. I may not follow sports, but his compelling writing drew me into every football moment. And with timely, relevant themes, I foresee many rich discussions with my students in the future. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC.

Gordon Korman always hits the right notes with middle grade readers and those who love to read middle grade books. In Slugfest, he teams up Archie/Yash, a super athlete, a recovering from injuries girls’ sports star and a handful of try-to-never-touch-a-ball misfits who are all just trying to get the missed credit(s) they need to move into the 9th grade. All of them are stuck taking summer school PE, commonly referred to as Slugfest because it is usually the kids who trip over nothing who are there and none of them has a particularly high opinion of their collective group. In true Korman form, the circumstances manage to coalescence into reasons for the 8 teens to begin to work together. Even twins Stuart and Sarah who are always trying to “one up” or even physically harm the other find a way to briefly put aside their perpetual torment of the other in an effort to help Yash reclaim his place as starting quarterback for the high school JV team by playing in an end of summer 7 on 7 flag football tournament. The characters are straight from any middle school anywhere and all are well-developed and likeable but Stuart and Sarah are laugh out loud funny and should have their own television series. Their constant bickering and competing is so unexpected from most literary (or even real life) twins that every trick or assault will take readers by surprise. Pulling this unlikely group together is Tamara, a retired school teacher with a serious baking gift and a little secret. A first choice purchase for grades 4-8 with no profanity or sexual content and violence is limited to the twins’ bloodless actions towards one another.

I have been a huge fan of Gordon Kidman since reading Restart. I love how his characters, in this case, Yash, and the other “slugs”.
All of the characters were in summer school for different reasons and came from different backgrounds but they found a way to work together for the common good.
I really enjoyed this book. Thank you for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title in advance of its publication. Written from multiple points of view, Slugfest tells the story of Yash, a hometown football hero and all-round amazing athlete, who finds himself forced to take summer school PE—AKA slugfest—in order to graduate from middle school. Featuring a cast of heartfelt characters including twins out to get each other in hilarious ways, a wannabe investigative reporter, a seemingly incompetent teacher, and a girl who pegs Yash as nothing but a sports jock, Slugfest keeps the pages turning with plenty of sports action, humor, and middle school antics. Recommended!

I read Slugfest from NetGalley. Yash is a start 8th grader who has to take a PE class over the summer to be able to graduate. Yash has to make hard decisions and new friends to make it through a challenging summer. Gordon Korman is the best realistic fiction middle grade writer with different perspectives in each chapter. This is another good addition. Korman is building an impressive library.