EyebrarianPrize winnersGet the app

Books › Masterminds

Cover of Masterminds

Masterminds

Gordon Korman

352 pages

A high-stakes, paranoia-laced puzzle box where a picture-perfect childhood unravels into a thrilling fight for identity.

Where to buyBooks like this

What it feels like

Reading this book feels like stepping into a sunlit room only to realize the doors have locked behind you and the windows are painted on. It delivers a propulsive, paranoia-laced experience that hooks you with a creeping sense of wrongness before exploding into a full-blown conspiracy thriller. The narrative shifts briskly between different perspectives, keeping the tension high and the pacing relentless as an idyllic reality shatters. It focuses heavily on the emotional shock of discovering your entire life is a lie, and that the people you trust most are actually your captors. Perfect for young readers who love questioning authority, it offers a deeply satisfying blend of suspense, shifting loyalties, and the ultimate quest to define who you are against all odds.

Mood
  • paranoid
  • tense
  • mysterious
  • action-packed
Tone
  • urgent
  • suspenseful
  • accessible
  • wry
Pace
propulsive
Themes
nature versus nurture · illusion of utopia · betrayal by authority · forging one's own identity · friendship under pressure
The writing
Crisp, fast-paced, and dialogue-heavy, utilizing multiple distinct middle-grade perspectives to build suspense.
The arc
Begins in a state of comfortable, naive security before plunging into shocking disillusionment and a desperate, adrenaline-fueled fight for autonomy.
Who it's for
Middle-grade readers who crave high-stakes conspiracies, secret experiments, and the thrill of outsmarting the adults in charge.
Content notes
  • gaslighting
  • betrayal by parents
  • mild peril
  • confinement

About the book

Eli Frieden lives in the most perfect town in the world: Serenity, New Mexico. Honesty and integrity are valued above all else. The thirty kids who live there never lie—they know it’s a short leap from that to the awful problems of other, less fortunate places.

Eli has never left Serenity... why would he ever want to? Then one day, he bikes to the edge of the city limits and something so crazy and unexpected happens, it changes everything. Eli convinces his friends to help him investigate further, and soon it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems in Serenity. The clues mount to reveal a shocking discovery, connecting their ideal crime-free community to some of the greatest criminal masterminds ever known. The kids realize they can trust no one—least of all their own parents.

Description from Open Library.

Books like Masterminds

See why they match