''Swindle'' is a 2008 children's novel by Gordon Korman. It is a caper story about the retrieval of a valuable

baseball card A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s, they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, s ...

. The book was the first of a series, followed by '' Zoobreak'', '' Framed!'', ''Showoff'', '' Hideout'','' Jackpot'', ''Unleashed'', and ''Jingle''.Gordon Korman at Fantastic Fiction
/ref> The book's cover signifies the plot's main thread about

s, and features the characters running around a

Baseball diamond A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

Plot

A smart, young boy named Griffin Bing decides to invite his entire class grade over for a sleepover in an old, abandoned house that is slated to be demolished after the town's plan for using as a new space in their town to make a skate park was thrown out because of their youth. However, on the night of the sleepover, only Griffin and his best friend Ben Slovak show up. Griffin finds a vintage baseball card. The card was a 1920 Babe Ruth trading card worth $974,000. S. Wendell Palomino, or Swindle as the boys call him, stiffs them and give Griffin only 120 dollars for the card. Griffin gives half to Ben. The boys attempt to steal the card from a safe in Palomino's shop, but it has been moved. After discovering that it is in his house, they group up with a few other people and decide to steal the card back in an elaborate heist. The team consists of Griffin, Ben, Melissa, Savannah, and Pitch, but Darren blackmails them into letting him also join the team. They steal the card, but leave a little evidence to their identity, and they are caught. However, news of Swindle's swindling comes out in the newspaper, and he does not press charges—instead, he gets a dose of karma and his shop does not see many visitors anymore. The card goes on auction, selling for 974,000 dollars, with the money eventually going to a town museum and the skate park.

Characters

''Griffin Bing:'' a 6th grade school student, and ringleader of the card heist. Nicknamed “The Man with the Plan”. ''Ben Slovak:'' a 6th grade school student, Griffin’s best friend, and lookout of the card heist. Ben becomes a lookout after revealing to Griffin that he has

narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that impairs the ability to regulate sleep–wake cycles, and specifically impacts REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. The symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), sleep-r ...

. ''Savannah Drysdale:'' a 6th grade school student. Savannah is great with animals and is brought onto the card heist to calm Swindle’s dog Luthor. ''Antonia “Pitch” Benson:'' a 6th grade school student. Pitch is an expert climber and is brought onto the card heist to bring them onto the roof of Swindle’s building. ''Logan Kellerman:'' a 6th grade school student. Logan is an actor who is trying to get into a commercial when he is brought onto the card heist to distract Swindle's neighbor. ''Melissa Dukakis'' a 6th grade school student. Melissa is a shy girl who was brought into the plan when Griffin Bing wants a girl specialized in

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ('' computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', ...

Film

A TV movie '' Swindle'' based on the novel was released on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

in 2013.

References

{{Reflist}
Author's page featuring

External links

2008 American novels Novels by Gordon Korman 2008 children's books