Book Review: Swindle (kids swindled out of a Babe Ruth trading card)

Swindle, by Gordon Korman (Scholastic, 2012, 251 pages, $6.99, grades 4-7, ages 9-12)

A Plan, A Plan, You Gotta Have a Plan

The very prolific Gordon Korman of No More Dead Dogs fame has done it again (but earlier) with a plan to beat all plans (thought up by our hero, young Griffin Bing), if it will work – but it keeps changing as life keeps interfering. But it will work, that is if the gang (seven unlikely friends, each with a special talent) can come together as a team long enough to pull off an unlikely heist to get back something that was ‘stolen.’ Even Baltimore plays a part.

It all starts with a secret sleep-over in a ‘haunted’ house where hardly anyone shows up but the planner (our hero, Griffin Bing) and his narcoleptic best friend (not the dog).

Can the kids find a way to steal back the Babe Ruth (not the candy bar) trading card worth a couple of mill? Can our hero save his house with the money?

What? No Back-up Plan?

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong in a book starring 11-year-olds. How they manage to mountain-climb a house, hack into email accounts, come up with $80 to buy a ticket to a game at Madison Square Garden, and still work on their science project will astonish you with one thrill after another.

Cliffhangers in this First in the Swindle Series*

Zoobreak, Second in the Series

Would you believe the bad guy in this book is named Swindle (well, actually S. Wendell Palomino) and he swindled our hero out of a lot of money by lying to him?

Full of twists and switchbacks at the end of chapters, author Korman introduces his readers, boys and girls alike, to cliffhangers and a nice girl dog whisperer who really just whispers to the Doberman on duty.

A Mixed Motley Crew of Eleven-Year-Olds

The kids are not buddies but they each have something to contribute for their own reason so they stick together. What happens is pretty far-fetched but kid-readers will know this is just an adventure in a book that merely mimics real life. And is it ever exciting, fast-reading and full of surprises.

All in all, another wonderful book by a very prolific author.

And, oh yeah, there is a dog. Actually a Doberman. And he made the front cover.

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Caveat: This book was purchased for review.

*Titles in the Swindle series:

1.     Swindle

2.     Zoobreak

3.     Framed

4.     Showoff

5.     Hideout

6.     Jackpot

7.     Unleashed

8.     Jingle