El Timo

Swindle #1

by Gordon Korman

A Griffin Bing no le ha pasado por la cabeza hacer una fortuna cuando planea pasar la noche en una casa que esta a punto de ser demolida. Pero una vez alli, descubre algo mas valioso que el oro: una antigua tarjeta de beisbol de Babe Ruth que estuvo escondida por muchos anos. Griffin tiene entre sus manos algo que vale un millon de dolares, pero un coleccionista inescrupuloso llamado Timoteo S. Wendell (el Timador) lo engana y se queda con la tarjeta. Para recuperarla, Griffin debe reunir un equipo de amigos (y uno que otro enemigo). Hay muchos obstaculos en el camino: un perro guardian furioso, un sistema de alarma sofisticado, un escondite secreto y el hecho de que ninguno puede conducir un auto. Pero Griffin es el Hombre del Plan, y aunque algunas cosas se salgan de sus manos, no dejara que le arrebaten una fortuna sin dar la pelea por lo menos.

Genres: Middle Grade, Adventure, Fiction, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Gordon Korman is a Canadian author of children's and young adult fiction books. Korman's books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide over a career spanning four decades and have appeared at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Reviews

[Harun Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

"সুইন্ডল" হচ্ছে এগারো বছর বয়সীদের নিয়ে লেখা ocean's eleven।মেদহীন জমাটি গল্প। ক্লাইম্যাক্স টানটান উত্তেজনাপূর্ণ। মন্ত্রমুগ্ধের মতো করম্যান পড়েই যাচ্ছি, পড়েই যাচ্ছি।

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Griffin Bing surprisingly finds an old Babe Ruth baseball card in the about-to-be demolished Rockford Mansion, his first instinct is to determine its worth. That brings him to Palomino's Emphorium of Collectibles and Memorabilia. After Griffin and his friend, Ben make a deal for the card and sell it to S. Wendell (sounds deceptively like swindle, eh?) Palomino for a cool $120, they are disappointed it wasn't worth more.

That's when the reality of the situation sets in and Griffin and Ben find out that the card is extremely rare and worth somewhere near one million dollars! They've been had, they've been cheated...they've been swindled! Griffin revs up into action and lives up to his name, Griffin Bing: The Man with a Plan. Griffin gathers just the perfect set of classmates to help him with his baseball card heist to get back what he believes is rightfully his. A rock-climber, a computer genius, a bully, an actor and an animal-rights activist are all part of his entourage. Will he succeed in getting past Palomino's guard dogs, high-tech security system and the nosiest neighbor on the planet?

You'll just have to read all about it in Swindle by Gordon Korman. A fast-paced, nail-biting, suspenseful adventure full of imaginative escapades and plans-of-action that is sure to please readers who are young and young at heart.

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cleverly written story with some unexpected twists. One might suspect that this story could encourage kids to break laws to get what they want. That is not the case. Korman is careful to balance wrongdoing with consequences. Griffin especially suffers for his bad decisions at times. Boys who are reluctant readers will enjoy Korman's books. This one features a 12-year-old male narrator and a famous baseball card is at the center of the story. A quick and entertaining read.

[♥ Indu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swindle is a really good book. I really like Griffin because he's "the man with the plan."

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd story. After a kid gets swindled, he gathers a group of misfits to pull off a heist. This is all highly illegal, which is the oddest part. You’re not sure who to root for. The kids are also odd and kind of annoying. But it’s interesting and has a satisfying ending.



Language: Mild
Sexual Content: None
Violence/Gore: Mild
Harm to Animals: None
Harm to Children: None
Other (Triggers): cheating (business), bullying, dishonesty, financial stress

[Libby May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beside the haunted house tale in the beginning, this book was pretty cool. Haunted houses an other such things are something I'm personally really strict about in my reading, so it may not really influence your idea of the book.

The story was really fun! It played on my nerves, which is just because this is not my normal genre. I can't believe that they actually pulled the first break in off! And then despite the bumps in the road they pulled off the second one too! Of course there were issues, as in in the end Griffin had to hand over the card, but all in all, he got it!

I really enjoyed this story over all, but there were a couple of things that I didn't love. If I was the author I would have made Ben to be the main character all the way through. It's actually written to be a third person from Griffin's POV. Griffin is a sensitive bossy dude, which sort of throws me off. I guess it's a fresh way to write a book, because there are not very many other books where you aren't supposed to love the main character. But I think there is a reason for that. After all, the main character is there to portray the story to you, you should like him. Maybe you do, but for me he was too much of a sissy, too sensitive to be the ring leader. Like a spoiled little kid who throws fits when things don't go his way, "You're not my friend anymore!"

Beside that. The story was really fast moving, almost so fast that I got hung behind. It was stressful, because there were so many components, and no hints for the readers themselves to be able to find out. Not like interactive. No hints. No relief. You have to sit back and watch Griffin do everything, because you have no way of knowing what's gonna happen or how to solve it. Except for Melissa. She was the safety system answer from the beginning.

That's pretty much it. I would recommend reading this book. I'm excited to get into the next couple books. Thanks to a friend who recommended the series. :)

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very great book! This book has a lot of author's craft that makes you want to keep reading it! This book is a little bit about crime. A gang of kids try to break in to a person ripped them off (Swindle)'s house. Griffin must be a risk taker. He's the one who took a risk of breaking into a person's house!

[Ava Crocker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but i thought it would end differently then it did :)

[Devansh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story, I liked the beginning, and the end was nice but the around the middle of the book there was a bunch of tension.

[lydia · Rating 1 out of 5]

What.

Tiny disclaimer, which is mainly for anyone who has ever interacted with me, I was forced to read this, and I really hope that you don't think I am dumb enough to chose this book on my own. Blame my school for my pain and suffering.

To start, all the characters can go die. They all suck, and I feel nothing but disgust towards them. I have never had to deal with such dumb characters before. Like, why are they so stupid? They act like 5 year olds, and I feel kind of bad saying that because if you put a 5 year old in this situation, they would be smarter than anyone in this book could even comprehend.

This is just me being picky, but why is the font so freaking big. I have no problem with big fonts, but WHOA. If you were on the moon and showed me a page in this book, I could perfectly read every word. I'm begging you, please chill out on the font size.

I believe that this is now a series, and quite a big one too. I have absolutely no intention of reading them (clearly), so I don't know if those books are an improvement from this one. But please, for the love of everything that is good in this world, they better be better than this garbage. And if they unfortunately aren't, my heart goes to everyone who had to read an entire SERIES of this crap. I am truly sorry. Also, I would like to mention, who wanted this to become a series? Like, was that REALLY needed? Because all biases aside, I don't think it was.

I feel bad being so mean about this, but man this sucked, and I just needed to rant about it for a second. Again, I'm extremely sorry, but this was probably one of the worst things I have ever read.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, Gordon Korman... where have the halcyon days gone when you wrote hilarious books with quirky characters, genuinely novel and unlikely yet somehow believable situations, and witty dialogue? Have you lost your inspiration? Did you get involved with the Mafia for real, and now are duty/honor bound to pay off some ridiculous sum, forcing you to shove as many books out of your pen/computer as humanly possible? Did you, in fact, die, and are this very instant not only rolling but rotating in your grave like a hotdog on a spit because of what your ghostwriter is doing to sully your good name? Alas, regardless of the explanation, it seems you've reduced your writing down to a formula so that you can churn out "hits" much as Britney Spears does (...or doesn't. You know.)

Let me describe said formula: mix two characters, one with "zany" and single-minded focus on seemingly unattainable or ridiculous goal(s), and one who is patently normal who reacts with shock, varying degrees of repulsion, and yet increasingly, passion for realizing character #1s goals. Throw in an antagonist (most likely a grouchy middle-aged man), a cast of other "unusual" peers, and a "kids vs. The Man"-based plot, and you have yourself a book!

Note, however, that this formula lacks any sort of heart, true humor, or, for that matter, any emotion whatsoever. It is a barren wasteland of cardboard cutouts hurtling their way through a mere semblance of a plot with only one obvious goal: that another paperback get shoved on a shelf. Sad face to you, Mr. Korman. Very sad face.

[Jeremy Shrewsbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Book Review
Book title and author: Swindle by Gordon Korman
Title of review: Reviewing Swindle
Number of stars (1 to 5): 5

Introduction
The book I am going to be reviewing is Swindle it is written by Gordon Korman. This story is awesome they start off in a house where they was going to stay to prove that they should get a skate park. Well they do and one of the kids find a card they is like a miss print
Description and summary of content
Then they go to a store to see if it is worth anything which it is but they get played. The guy give them a hundred dollar’s but it is about half a million dollars so they make a plan to get the card back. So they put a team to gather and tell them what they need from them.

Evaluation
This was amazing book that I would say anybody could get into it if you’re over the age ten. I love the book because when it tells you that kid are going up against adults that is when I got into the book because I love it when kids stand up for what they believe in. That was what I love the most about this story.

Conclusion
Yes, I would recommend other people to read this book. If you love books about people standing up for what they believe in then this book is the right book for you because this is a book I never will forget about.

[Amia Sutherland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book had lots of ups and downs but I really loved the suspense of the carefully planed plans and the characters friendship was real like it was I true story. I would recommend this book to people who like suspense and are seeking thrill

[BooksNCrannies · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You have been chosen for your special skills to do something that urgently needs to be done. To learn more, come to the Ballroom at 3:30. Don't miss this. It will be worth your while — $$$."

✏️ Review ✏️

Swindle is a thoroughly enjoyable heist adventure filled with classic Korman humor. I liked the characters; their diverse quirks and personalities nicely contributed to the intrigue of the story. The story had me laughing out loud a few times too! I had great fun reading this one, and would definitely recommend you give Swindle a read yourself.

"'This is no kids' game. There's serious stuff on the line — serious money, but also serious trouble if anything goes wrong. If you don't think you can handle it, there's the door.'"

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📊 A Quick Overview 📊

👍🏼 What I Liked:
• The plot — it's fast-paced and somewhat suspenseful.
• The varied cast of characters — they each have distinct personalities and quirks.
• The writing style — it flows smoothly and sounds like natural conversation and storytelling.
• The humor (gotta love Korman's creative humor! 😆)

👎🏼 What I Did Not Like:
• (Can't think of anything.)

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❓ To Read or Not To Read? ❓

— Would I recommend this book? Absolutely!*

— To whom? To those who enjoy fast-paced contemporary mystery/detective adventures sprinkled with a good dose of laughable, clean humor.

*(Note: I leave it up to each individual to decide the maturity and discernment level required to read the books I recommend, based on my content warnings below [in my Book Breakdown]. My content warnings [if any] should always be considered alongside my recommendations when deciding who these books are best suited for.)

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📖 BOOK BREAKDOWN 📖 (Overall: 4/5)
~Fundamentals: (1=worst; 5=best)
— 📈 Plot: 4/5
— 📝 Writing: 4/5
— 👥 Characters: 3.5/5

~Content: (0=none; 1=least; 5=most)

— 🤬 Language: 1/5

• One vain use of God's name and one use of "heck."

— ⚔️ Violence: 0/5

— ⚠️ Sexual: 0/5

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📣 Random Comments 📣

• (None)

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💬 Favorite Quotes 💬

• (None)

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swindle is one of those reads that I rate primarily based on my enjoyment and its fulfillment of its synopsis. Swindle satisfied both of these requirements which is why it’s five stars.

Is it the next great American novel? No. But, is it memorable, charming, and fun? Heck, yes.

I read this a few times as a kid and a few of the sequels before I aged out of the main demographic. I believe I got up to Showoff, the fourth book, before calling it quits on the series. Now looking back I can firmly say that this one still holds up pretty well.

While a little simplistic in terms of characterization, the central heist is strong enough that it overcomes that aspect. Everyone has a solid, clearly defined role that helps to sell their importance to the story - there are no filler characters taking up the ensemble meaning I was less inclined to complain about lack of substance. Some contribute more than others, but there’s always a reason for it which helps to make it feel less like a bunch of cardboard cutouts going through the motions. The role in the heist also tied directly to their strengths as characters which further cemented the small amounts of depth they did get.

The heist is my favorite part. It’s ridiculous yet at the same time entirely possible. That little kernel of maybe is why I love this book: the idea that I could technically undertake a similar endeavor if only I were to want it enough tickled me as a young reader and it still tickles me today.

The ending is rushed. The pacing is fine for most of the book only for the fallout to be accelerated to hypersonic speed. I wish it had been given more time to breathe especially given the mini mystery shoved into this intervening time.

In summation, high literature this is not: read it anyways. At the very least it’ll pass the time.

[Fern Kuntz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Swindle is told from the view of multiple characters. The main character is 11-year-old Griffin Bings. He’s known as “The Man With The Plan.”

The book starts with Griffin and his best friend, Benjamin Slovak, otherwise known as Ben. They’re sitting on their sleeping bags in an abandoned mansion. It’s a famous place called the “Old Rockford Place.” The mansion is going to be demolished the next day.

Twenty-eight people said they were going to come to the sleepover Griffin had planned. Zero people showed up. The only reason Ben was there, was because he wanted to be nice to Griffin. Ben told Griffin some of the rumors, about how the Old Rockford Place was haunted.

After awhile, they try to go to sleep. Ben fell asleep almost immediately, which Griffin admires. He decides to go exploring for a little bit. He finds a desk, which is probably the last thing in the building. All of the drawers open with nothing in them except one. It wouldn’t budge until he accidentally bumps a secret button. The drawer looks empty at first, but in the far back there’s a one-million-dollar baseball card.

After Griffin and Ben wake up, they go to a shop called Palomino’s Emporium. The owner rips the kids off knowing he can get away with it.

Griffin plans a robbery to take bake what he found. After the first failure, he is no longer as determined to get it. On the second attempt, he has a full team that tries and does succeed.

The aftermath is not the best for them, but everything works itself out.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes thrill.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a certain tone you get with any Gordon Korman book (or at least this theory holds true in every one I've read so far) that is the voice of pained reason. The sidekick telling the story for the most part of a kid who's a schemer, a plotter, a planner. The Zack Morris (sorry if I'm dating myself) of the middle school crowd. The Man With a Plan.

This particular mastermind is after a Babe Ruth card - one that's been stolen from him, that he has no problem with stealing back. Regardless of how many laws need to be broken to accomplish the task. While I winced at the morality, the team assembled would do Ocean's Eleven proud, and the heist when it's finally pulled off, is a thing of beauty - especially in the whole array of ways that it does go wrong, as of course it has to.

I liked these kids. I liked the story. I'm dinging it a point because I was never quite comfortable with the premise, but want very much to read the rest of the series because it was just that much fun. If you're a fan of Gordon Korman books you can't go wrong with grabbing this one for a quick read. It's just that much fun.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this for my kid's book club. Although it is reasonably well written and paced the plot was hare-brained and immoral. The 'hero' lies with premeditation, steals, gets swindled when he sells his stolen goods, concocts an attempted burglary and then steals again. There are no repercussions, lessons learned or character development. Money is the main motivator for all the characters. It's pretty awful.

[Yahir Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think think this book was amazing. It had a lot of descriptive areas and it also had various types of conflicts. The best thing about this book in my mind is that it had real facts about the Babe Ruth card and the Honus Wager one. This book is amazing.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, a book for the 9 year old and up. A classic heist, I can easily see it as a movie, the smart kids in the class band together to teach a cheating collectibles dealer a well deserved lesson.

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very quick read and it is also pretty funny. I read 70 pages in less then an hour that is how good it is! I think you guys should read it.

[Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I am going to write a summary about is “Swindle”. The author is Gordon Korman. I think the genre of the book is mystery and action because the 2 dogs had a fight during the heist. The problem took place in Palomino’s Emporium. It took place in Cedervill, New york. Time is unknown
Meet Griffin Bing and Ben Slovak. The two 6 grade boys. Griffin is a stubborn boy that never changes his mind. Even an earthquake would not change his mind. But on the other side stood Ben. He is always nervous and worried about getting into trouble. But when they stick together, nothing is impossible. These brave best friends have friends made a team with talented with young adults named Antonia “ Pitch” Benson, Savannah Drysdale the animal whisperer, Logan Kellerman the actor, Melissa Dukakis the technician and last but not least Darren Vader, Griffin Bing’s enemy.
Griffin Bing’s parents play a small role of the book. They scolded Griffin Bing for all the things he had done. For example, He “stole” back the baseball card. But they were just making Griffin a better person.
It all started in the Rocksford house when Griffin and Ben spent a night there. Griffin Bing found a rare Babe Ruth baseball card. Griffin was low on money and he had to get the money from selling the baseball card. So they went to sell it (the baseball card) in the Palomino’s Emporium. But the owner, S. Wardell Palomino took it for 120 bucks because he knows Griffin Bing doesn’t know anything about collectibles. But it was actually worth about $1 million. Palomino was shown on television and Griffin saw it with rage and it all began. Griffin and wanted to steal it back but like I said, Ben was worried about getting caught by the police and getting sent to jail. But nothing can change Griffin from starting a heist..
The heist started with Griffin and Ben. Planning and figuring out how to sneak in without Palomino and his guard dog, Luthor.started out and the heist began. Griffin sent Ben in a box as a package for the owner and Ben will sneak in the store and get the card. Easy as pie. But Palomino was a block ahead of him as he took the card with him and the dog home. After they realized that, they started planning again like how to get in and studying the inside of the house. Forming the team and convincing them to join the heist team didn’t take them long after they heard the amount of money they were going to get. Positioning took long and after all of that, the heist began. Logan was the guy distracting the security guard, Savannah was the person interacting with the guard dog, Luthor. Ben was the lookout, Griffin was the blow torch guy, Melissa was the technician with disabling the alarm and hacking into Palomino’s gmail account, Pitch was the member that helped everyone climb up the house but was injured, and Darren was nothing but a snitch.
A new guard dog arrived not long ago before.The rent-a-beast was a bad idea because it attacked other people. At last Griffin Bing found the card but not long after, Darren ran away with it but the heist team got it back with the smartpick, a creation by Griffin’s dad. The security guard called the police and Palomino got back home after the police reported that the card went missing. The police accused Griffin who stole it after Pitch and Darren was reported to come down to the principal's office.
The police sneaked up on Griffin and watched him until he took out the baseball card out of the mailbox. But he was not sent to jail because he was just going to have to sign the paper telling that he found the baseball card and was going back to the original owner, The oldest Rocksford member. Darren Vader is the youngest owner of the Rocksford family so the card was given to him by the owner and they got the money. Darren’s parents made him donate to the museum and Griffin’s family didn’t have to move out anymore because the smartpick everyone heard about became popular and companies wanted Griffin’s dad to collaborate with them.

I really liked the book and I hope everyone likes it too because spending time to read it was totally worth it. Friendship and teamwork were the words I chose for the book I selected. This book would be suitable for people who likes action.

[Martin Leyva]

Personal Response: I like Swindle by Gordan Korman because I read the summary on the back and it seems like a good book. At the beginning it is kinda boring but it starts to get better the more I read.

Plot: Griffin and Ben find an old Babe Ruth baseball card that is worth a lot of money and sell it to a man known as Swindle who owns a collection store. They sell it for a $100. Later they want it back because he lies about how much it is worth. They find out that he is reselling it for a million dollars. Griffin forms a team to try and break into Swindle’s house. Ben has sleeping problems and is the first person to join the team. Then joins Pitch, Logan, Melissa and Vader. Griffin’s main goal is to try and break into Swindle’s house to get his baseball card back without getting caught. They fail a couple times before they manage to get the baseball card. When they finally get into the house they blow torch a safe that they saw Swindle put the card in. Griffin then remembers the man on television asks why the card is so cold. He also hears that Swindle orders a twenty pound turkey just for himself. Griffin goes to the freezer and finds the card in a Ziploc bag inside the turkey. The team gets caught by the police and they take the card. No charges are pressed by Swindle because he does not want to be accused of cheating someone. At the end of the story, Griffin ends up learning to not break into people's houses just to get something that belongs to him.

Characterization:
The Protagonist- Griffin is the main character. Griffin is loyal, intelligent, and he is the one who comes up with the plans. Griffin learns not to retaliate if someone cheats him because he will get in trouble.

Antagonist- Swindle is a man who cheats people to get more money out of baseball cards. Another antagonists are the dogs. They are always guarding Swindles house. Swindle does not change in the story. He is dishonest.

Setting: The story takes place in Cedarville, New York in the present times. Most of the story takes place at Palomino’s Emporium where baseball cards are sold. This impacts the story because Swindle tricks Griffin into selling their baseball card for $100 when it is worth one million dollars.


Recommendation: I recommend this book to males and females ages 12 years and older because it is a good book to read. They will learn a life lesson to not cheat people and not to break into houses if someone takes something that belongs to them.

[Jeffrey DiFazio · Rating 4 out of 5]

My book for March/april was swindle. Swindle was actually the only book i have in my house and i already read it in fourth grade. I didnt remeber what happened in the book so i reread it. It is a really good kids book that will keep like fourth or fifth graders into books.

This book all starts with the Main charachter Griffen Bing. Bing plans a spooky sleepover in a haunted house that's about to be demolished but when no one shows up besides his friend Ben Slovak. While in the creepy house they by accidentally find a Babe Ruth baseball card thats worth a lot. When they go into the store the owner scams them and tells them its not worth anything when it is worth 1 million dollars. He goes back and demands it back but doesnt get it. So they create a plan on how to get it back. This plan does not succeed because of the guard dog. The next day they ask someone who speaks to dogs to calm the dog down and let them go by it. The thing is that the girl wont do it. They come up with another plan to put bings in a box and ship him in and the breaks out at night. The plan works just to find out the card was moved and luther the dog isnt there.
They find out they moved the card to his actual house. This time they need the ultimate plan. They have to go through the skyroof and finally get the card but one of them betrays them and takes the card and sets off the alarm and leaves them, this is how they end it so people read, Zoobook the next book in the series.


I liked this book cuz i feel young again but honestly now that i am grown up (jusy a little more than i was in 4th grade) that its not of a well put together book but for young kids its easier to make so the level wasnt hard for them.


the only dislike i had with this book was that it was for a much younger audience was that they could have made a little better if they told us what happened because i feel like that was the main action in the book and it didnt even happen fully.

[Bob Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very good for how much I have read, it's very well thought out with the character being one of each like movie character or like dumb one, or funny one, smart one, and yea. My favorite character is Griffin because of how smart he is. My favorite moment of him is his plan to get the card back from Swindle. Now Swindle he is the guy that stole the card or coned Griffin of the card I am not a fan of Swindle but he sure does play an important part in the book. I don't like Swindle because of how he took one of the most popular players card and Griffin could've actually used it for his family's money. Ben was another one of my favorite characters because of how funny he is and so dumb founded he is and he has never wants to do Griffins plans, but he always gets pulled in. My favorite memory or part of Ben was when he like refused to stay at the old rocksfard house and yet he gets pulled in again and has to do it. My favorite part of the whole book so far is when Griffin finds the card. I liked this part because I am a huge sports fan and I love baseball, one thing I would like to see in the future is a Ben version of him and and his friends relationship and what goes through Bens mind with all these plans. I really like this book so far and can not wait to read the rest of this book.

[Sha · Rating 4 out of 5]

5. Apr. 2021

1. I'm in a reading slump and I've had zero luck with longer books so I thought it's try something shirt and middle-grade. And since I've liked all Gordon Korman books I've read to date, I thought I'd give this one a try.

2. Now, this rating in relative to the reactions of the intended audience. I don't think adults who are looking for a complex story are going to find that much to interest them here. Everything is pretty straightforward. But it's also funny and clever, and that's enough to keep me entertained.

3. As usual, the characters are simultaneously a bit ridiculous and a very relatable. I thought this fell into the typical heist story trap of being unable to really develop all of the characters- some of them are defined entirely by their skillset.

4. Luthor and Savannah are by favorites, y'all. Especially Luthor.

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, this book is very unrelatable. This wouldn't happen in real life. I will say it wasn't completely terrible, considering I finished it, but I've definitely read better books. It's like, "Oh no! My parents have money problems because my dad thinks it's smart to quit his job to work on a fruit picker invention, and we might have to move! Guess I'll just steal this baseball card that is worth a million dollars that I found when my friend and I were having a sleepover in a house that was actively getting demolished! I took it to a vintage shop and the guy ripped me off, but I think it's still mine even though we literally shook on the deal! Then my enemy/school bully inherits it from his millionaire Granny!" I probably gave this book too many stars. Maybe it would be interesting for younger kids, but I didn't enjoy it too much.

[Paige Doherty]

This book theme was that not everything is what you think it is. This is best shown by two boys who stay a night in a building to protest not putting up a skate park. While they were in the house they found a valuable card and since there family is tight on money they decide to see a specialist in cards. He told the kids that the card was only worth 120 dollars when it was really worth 2 million dollars. They made plans to try to get the card back. Lets just say that didn't work out to good. In the long run they found the owner and no body went to jail. But they all learned the lesson that not everything is what you think it was.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Griffin and his friends find a Rare Babe Ruth Baseball Card. That card is worth one million dollars. S. Wendell tricks him out of the card for little money. They realized they just got swindle and they have to try and get the card back. So he gets some of his friends and enemies and he said he would give them part of the money if they help. They try many ways to get in the house but they can's seem to. They have to find another way to get in the house. Do they get the card or not? I like this book because they find some creative ways to try and break in. I also like this book because I like sports and it talks about baseball cards.

[Tobyn Brennan]

I love this book. It was very fun to read. I didn't finish it this time but I read it a long time ago. The worst part of the book was when Swindle cheated them. That part made me angry. My favorite part was when they broke into the store and it wasn't there. That part was frustrating though. I thought this book was better than the last book I read. I want to read the whole series because I like the plans he makes and how detailed they are. I like the characters as well, my favorite is Melissa because she is good with computers.