Swindle

G. Korman. (2009). Swindle, NY: Scholastic.

This story is about two boys Griffin and Ben that are friends and Ben might have to move away due to his family's money problems. They decide to stay overnight in a old house that is going to be demolished. Ben finds a baseball card. He wants to sell it to make money. He takes the baseball card to a local hobby shop. Mr. Palomino swindles him out of lots of money. He the cards ends up being worth lots of money. They come up with a plan to steal it back. Ben actually uses his Dad's invention to get the card back. In the end the card goes to one of Darren who tried to double cross them. In the end things work out and his Dad's invention gets the attention it needed and Ben won't have to move.

I didn't think I would like this story but the characters seemed real even if all the circumstances they put themselves into did not. It was enjoyable and really kept you on your seat when they were stealing the card. I think the junior high crowd would like to read this book since it's fun and fast to read. 

The plot of this book had you thinking about what Griffin and Ben would be doing to get the card back.  It was a bit predictable in places, like Ben getting his Dad's picker to get the card from the tree.  Unpredictable when Ben mailed the card to the house that was demolished.