Whatshisface

Cooper Vega's family moves so often that he's practically invisible at any school he attends. Now they've relocated to the town of Stratford -- where nobody even makes an effort to learn Cooper's name. To them, he's just . . . whatshisface.

Cooper's parents feel bad about moving him around so much, so they get him a fancy new phone. Almost immediately, it starts to malfunction. First there's a buzzing. Then there's a weird glare on the screen. Then that glare starts to take on the form of . . . a person?

It's not just any person trapped inside Cooper's phone. It's a boy named Roderick, who says he lived in the time of William Shakespeare -- and had a very tangled history with the famous playwright. Cooper thinks his phone has gone haywire, but there's nothing he can do to get rid of Roderick.

Then, even stranger, Roderick starts helping him. Even though his 17th-century advice isn't always the best for a 21st century middle school.

Gordon Korman is the #1 bestselling author of three books in The 39 Clues series as well as eight books in his Swindle series: Swindle, Zoobreak, Framed, Showoff, Hideout, Jackpot, Unleashed, and Jingle. His other books include This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall! (published when he was 14); The Toilet Paper Tigers; Radio Fifth Grade; Slacker; Restart; the trilogies Island, Everest, Dive, Kidnapped, and Titanic; and the series The Hypnotists and On the Run. He lives in New York with his family and can be found on the web at gordonkorman.com.