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Gordon Korman's Swindle is a heist story for 8 year olds about a boy who gets cheated out of a baseball card that might be worth a million dollars.
Griffin Bing is known as The Man With The Plan. His latest one is a protest sleepover in a spooky old house the night before it's knocked down. Twenty-eight kids said they'd come. Only his best friend Ben turns up (and Ben falls asleep).
Wandering the empty rooms, Griffin finds an old Babe Ruth card in a hidden drawer. A local dealer, S. Wendell Palomino, tells him it's a copy and gives him a hundred and twenty dollars for it. Days later Griffin spots the same man on TV, getting ready to auction it for a fortune.
That stings even more because the Bings are struggling. His dad gave up his job for an invention and now there's a For Sale sign on the lawn. So this plan is a big one. They're going to steal the card back!
Ben says no at first, which nearly breaks up the friendship. Then he sees that sign. After that the fun is in watching the plan come together. Savannah, who has a house full of animals, gets the job of making friends with the shop's terrifying Doberman (it rips a rubber poodle to shreds in seconds).
It's very funny. The boys hide in a prickly bush to spy on the shop and spend three days squinting at video of a finger pressing an alarm keypad. Griffin even turns being cheated into a numbered list in his head!
If you've got a reader who loves a scheme, they'll be cheering Griffin on. And who hasn't felt that grown-ups just don't listen? The town council won't even hear his skate park idea, and he's still fuming about it.
In the first chapter the kids swap creepy rumours about the old house, including a wife murdered with a chain saw and a ghost baby. It's all gossip and Griffin doesn't believe a word of it. Later a guard dog lunges at Griffin, and his parents argue about money in the background. A child who's easily spooked might like to read that first chapter with you. A reader who enjoys a bit of a shiver will probably love it.
If they like hopping between Griffin and Ben, try Korman's Unplugged. A billionaire's son is packed off to a wellness retreat in the woods without his phone, and the chapters swap between him and the kids who already can't stand him.
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