The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Korman, Gordon. Restart. New York: Scholastic Press, 2017.

The novel is told in the first-person present by a rotating cast of narrators. All of the narrators follow the same central storyline, with hardly any of them branching out into their own individual lives. So, despite the various narrators, the story is focused and streamlined. The story begins with Chase Ambrose waking up in the hospital with amnesia. He does not know who he is, nor does he remember any details about his life. The only thing he does remember is a little blonde girl in a blue dress with white lace. His mother and older brother tell him he fell off the roof. They take him home, where they find his father and stepmother, Corinne, along with their daughter, Helene. His father greets him heartily and tells him he is a running back on the Hiawassee Hurricanes. Chase’s mother says he will not be able to play because of the injury, then asks his father and his family to leave. Chase tries to say goodbye to Corinne, but she recoils from him in fear, which confuses him. Chase goes up to his room and finds his phone. On the home screen is a picture of him with two boys, beating up pumpkins on Halloween.

Shoshanna is an eighth-grader at Hiawassee Middle School along with Chase. When she hears about his injury, she texts her twin brother, Joel. Joel is away at a boarding school for talented musicians because Chase and his two best friends, Aaron and Bear, severely and consistently bullied Joel for years on end. The last prank they pulled involved putting cherry bombs in Joel’s piano during a recital and lighting them during his performance. The boys all received community service as punishment, and Joel’s parents sent him away so he would be safe from the bullying, Shoshanna goes to have yogurt with her father and sees Chase out with his family. He smiles innocently at her and, enraged, she dumps her yogurt on his head.

Chase starts eighth grade and is reintroduced to his best friends, Bear and Aaron. All the students at school seem afraid of them. Principal Fitzwallace calls Chase into his office and tells him all the teachers know about his amnesia and are available to help him. He also tells Chase he should take the opportunity to remake himself. The president of the video club, Brendan Espinoza, is eating lunch when Chase comes and sits next to him. At first, Brendan is frightened, but then he realizes Chase really does have amnesia. He helps him cut his chicken, since his arm is in a sling. Bear and Aaron come over to the table and tell Chase to sit with them, then push Brendon onto the floor. Chase helps him up, but goes to sit with Bear and Aaron reluctantly.

Chase spends the next few weeks trying to figure out why everyone is afraid of him. Bear and Aaron finally tell him that they put cherry bombs in Joel’s piano as a joke and the adults freaked out and made them do community service unfairly. Chase confronts his mother, angry she did not tell him the truth. She says that the judge waived his community service after his injury and she did not want to burden Chase with terrible stories. Brendan wants to shoot a video for YouTube at the carwash, but none of his friends want to come with him to hold the camera. He asks Chase if he will come, and Chase agrees. Chase holds the camera while Brendan goes through the carwash on a tricycle. The video turns out hilarious, so Brendan invites Chase to join video club.

Chase becomes a member of the video club despite Shoshanna’s protests. He also decides to go with Aaron and Bear to the Portland Street Assisted Living Residence to do community service. He is horrified when Aaron and Bear steal 20 dollars from an old woman. He goes back to her room later and leaves her 20 of his own dollars. At the pep rally, Bear and Aaron start picking on Brendan. Chase attacks them and tells them to leave Brendan alone. Bear and Aaron get mad at Chase, because he used to pick on Brendan worse than either of them. Shoshanna yells at Chase and says he is still just a violent bully. Kimberley Tooley, who has a crush on Chase, tells him that Shoshanna’s brother had to leave the school because of his bullying.

Aaron and Bear argue about whether or not Chase is faking amnesia. Before he fell off the roof, the three of them had stolen a Medal of Honor from one of the residents, an old veteran named Julius Solway. They cannot tell if Chase is faking to keep the medal to himself, but they do not want to bring it up in case his amnesia proves real and he decides to turn them all in because he is now a goody-two-shoes. Chase continues to volunteer at the assisted living residence. Everyone loves him, and he becomes especially close with Julius. When Shoshanna says she needs to find an old person to interview for the National Video Journalism Contest, Chase suggests she talk to Julius, who won a Medal of Honor. The whole video club, who loves the new Chase, enthusiastically agrees.

Shoshanna reluctantly meets with Julius and decides he is a perfect subject. Julius refuses to work on anything unless Chase is involved, so Shoshanna has no choice but to team up with Chase. She keeps the arrangement secret from her brother. While interviewing Julius one day, Shoshanna finds the case where the medal ought to be. Chase immediately suspects Bear and Aaron of stealing it. Shoshanna and Chase become friends. Her mother catches her at the yogurt shop with him and yells at both of them. Shoshanna tells her parents Chase has changed and suggests they bring Joel back. They agree. When Joel arrives at school, Chase apologizes to him. Joel believes him, but he still hates him and wants nothing to do with him. Chases asks Brendan how bad he used to be. Brendan shows him a scar on his head from a time Chase walked by and slammed his head into the water fountain.

Chase and Shoshanna finish their video about Julius. The principal has an assembly and plays the video for the whole school. Bear and Aaron get jealous that Chase is being praised and concoct an idea to ruin his new life. Brendan, Joel, and Kimberly film a video in the band room after school. Aaron and Bear barge in with fire extinguishers and trash the whole room. Kimberly runs to get help and comes back with Chase. Bear and Aaron pretend like Chase had planned the whole thing. Chase, confused, tries to grab the fire extinguisher from Aaron, but when he does he accidentally hits Joel in the face. Several teachers barge in and take them to the office.

Aaron and Bear say that the video club had started a fire in the band room so the three of them had gone in to put it out and Joel had been hit accidentally. Chase backs up their story because he is afraid of getting in trouble. The video club disowns him and his father takes him to see a disreputable doctor that gives him the okay to go back onto the team. After practice one day, Chase accuses Bear and Aaron of stealing the medal. They laugh and say he is the one who had the idea to steal it in the first place. Chase gets a memory confirming this and is horrified.

Brendan checks out a camera to record a new video and realizes the altercation in the band room was entirely caught on camera. He watches and sees that Chase was confused and innocent. He invites the whole video club over to watch it. When they that Chase is innocent, they feel bad. They call his house and learn he is at the retirement home, so they go to find him. When Chase sees the portrait of a girl in a blue dress in his neighbor’s house, he realizes that he saw the painting just before falling. He goes up to his roof and finds the Medal of Honor hidden. He goes to see Julius, but runs into Aaron and Bear who try to fight him for the medal. The others arrive just in time to stop the fight.

Chase gives Mr. Julius the medal and explains what happened before the police arrive. Chase stays at home until his trial. The whole town comes out in support of Chase to give witness to what a change he has made and how good he is now. Julius comes in last and says he does not want to press charges. The judge rules to dismiss the case. Chase starts dating Shoshanna and they win a prize for the movie, then he wins the big football game.