Swindle

By Gordon Korman

Summary: When Griffin finds an old baseball card in an abandoned house, he knows it's worth a lot of money. A lot of money is just what his family needs right now. His father is out of work and spending his time working a revolutionary invention, that hasn't exactly swept the nation's interest. Griffin takes his card to sell it to a memorabilia collector, but is told the card is not worth nearly what Griffin thinks it is. Griffin takes a deal of $100 for the card, only to find out later it's going to be auctioned off for somewhere around two million dollars! Griffin has been swindled by the king of swindles, S. Wendell Palomino, but Griffin isn't going to take his loss and go away. Griffin, with the help of his friends, plans and carries out a heist to get the card back. Things, of course, do not go as planned, but in the end Griffin and his friends get the card back from Palomino, but they don't get to keep it.

Review: Swindle incorporates humor, mystery, adventure, and drama in a story that will have readers rooting for revenge. Korman's knack for creating characters readers can relate to, or to someone they know, makes his stories all the more believable. Descriptive scenes allow readers to feel the action as if they were right there. Although the end seemed rushed and tied up in too neat a bow, the overall story is captivating and actually makes you want the little thieves to succeed, even though you know what they are doing is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Interest Level: 3rd-6th
AR Level: 4.9
Lexile Level: 710

Profanity:
None

Potentially Inappropriate References:
None

Potentially Inappropriate Behavior:
Kids make and implement a detailed plan to commit two robberies
Lying to adults (parents, teacher, stranger)
Torch a safe open, disable alarm systems
Talk about how to handle a police interrogation (what to say)
Lie to police

Parental Concern Rating:
4 of out 5