Masterminds
Written by Gordon Korman

Summary:
A group of kids discovers they were cloned from the DNA of some of the greatest criminal masterminds in history for a sociological experiment.

Primary Source Pairing:
“Serenity, New Mexico is voted #1 in USA for Standard of Living” reads the local paper. For as perfect as Serenity sounds, something fishy is going on and Eli, Malik, Tori, and Amber are going to figure it out. The first thing that they notice is that the local factory which makes orange traffic cones doesn’t seem to be actually producing anything. This discovery leads four friends on a hunt for more clues which ends in an unexpected and unsettling discovery. For this primary source pairing, invite students to examine a US plastics factory located in Indiana. The caption included with this image reads: “Workers manufacture plastic containers at the Berry Plastic Corp. factory in Evansville, Indiana November 23, 2009.” For more information read the article on International Business Times.

Questions for Discussion:

• Describe what you see.
• What do you notice first?
• What people and objects are shown?
• How are they arranged?
• What is the physical setting?
• What other details can you see?
• When this factory is running, what would you hear, see, smell, and feel?
• When this factory is running what clues would you hear, see, smell, and feel outside the factory?

Credits:
Book Cover and Summary: Follett
Factory Image: International Business Times