49 pages 1 hour read

Gordon Korman

The Hypnotists

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015

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Chapters 1-8

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

Jax considers the Third Avenue bus evil as it pulls away from the stop, leaving him and his basketball teammate, Tommy, behind. Now they will be late for their championship game. Another bus comes, but it doesn’t stop. When the next bus comes, Jax stands in the road waving it down. For a moment, he has a vision of himself as if watching from the driver’s perspective. The bus stops for them, and Jax tells him to get them to 96th Street as soon as possible.

The bus takes off and starts ignoring other passengers’ stop requests. Soon the bus is speeding and weaving, causing accidents and tossing around the passengers. The bus screeches to a halt at 96th Street. The bus driver seems unaware of what just happened.

Jax and Tommy run to their basketball game just in time.

Chapter 2 Summary

Coach Knapp sends the boys to the locker room to suit up. Jax notices his eyes are blue and imagines they must have been purple on the bus as he believes stress causes them to change color. Tommy never notices because he is colorblind.

Jax heads on the court, nervous to face off against the opposing team’s star player, Rodney Steadman.