[Collyn]

Hi Mr. Korman,

Even though I am a senior in high school, I still remember Ungifted extremely fondly. When I was a freshman, I joined my high school\'s robotics team partly because of your book. As I enter my 4th and final season, I\'ve been thinking a lot about Ungifted. When I first read the book, I would\'ve never imagined myself being on a robotics team, much less being the driver of the robotics team, much like Donovan (minus the whole mistakenly enrolled in a school for gifted children). I do have one burning question, though: was Ungifted inspired by FIRST Robotics? From my memory, I can draw many parallels between the robotics competition described in the book and the 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition game \"Logo Motion\". It also happens that the book was published a year later, in 2012.

 

I\'m excited to hear your response! Even if the two are not connected, I just want to let you know that your books were a huge part of my childhood, and who I am today. Thank you!

[Gordon]

Hi, Collyn,

Thanks for posting. I'm really pleased to note that UNGIFTED had such a profound influence on you! Did you know there's a SUPERGIFTED? And in February, my 107th book will be released -- HYPERGIFTED.

Your question: When I wrote the book, I had to study robotics, and knew nothing about FIRST Robotics. But I've heard from a lot of people who are into Robotics, including a teacher who was really helpful with details, and that's all I knew! I'm really pleased to hear that you've turned into The Driver!

Thanks for writing. It was great to get some feedback from my short venture into robotics.

                                  Best regards,                                                                       -----Gordon Korman-----

[Collyn]

Hey,

 

Yep, I've read (and greatly enjoyed) Supergifted as well, and it's exciting to hear that the story continues in Hypergifted! I'll be waiting eagerly until then.

 

Thanks for your response,

Collyn