Swindle (novel) facts for kids
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| Author | Gordon Korman |
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| Cover artist | Jennifer Taylor |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Adventure Children's |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
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Publication date
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2008 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 1-163 |
| ISBN | 978-0-439-90345-5 |
| Followed by | Zoobreak |
Swindle is an exciting adventure book written by Gordon Korman in 2008. It's the first book in a popular series. The story is all about a group of kids trying to get back a super valuable baseball card they were tricked into selling. This book is followed by other adventures like Zoobreak, Framed!, Showoff, Hideout, Jackpot, Unleashed, and Jingle.
Plot Summary
The story begins with a clever boy named Griffin Bing. He plans a sleepover for his whole class at an old house. This house is about to be torn down. The town had planned to build a skate park there, but the idea was dropped.
On the night of the sleepover, only Griffin and his best friend, Ben Slovak, show up. While exploring, Griffin finds a really old baseball card. It turns out to be a 1920 Babe Ruth trading card. This card is worth a huge amount of money, almost a million dollars!
Griffin tries to sell the card to a collector named S. Palomino. The boys call him "Swindle" because he tricks them. Swindle only gives Griffin $120 for the card, which is far less than its true value. Griffin shares half the money with Ben.
The boys soon realize they were cheated. They decide to get the card back. First, they try to steal it from a safe in Swindle's shop. But the card isn't there anymore. They discover it has been moved to Swindle's house.
Griffin and Ben team up with a few other friends. Together, they plan a very detailed and tricky mission to steal the card back. They manage to get the card! However, they accidentally leave some clues that point to them.
Even though they are caught, something unexpected happens. News spreads that Swindle cheated the boys. Because of this, he doesn't press charges against them. Instead, he moves out of town. The valuable baseball card is then put up for auction. It sells for its true value, $974,000! The money from the sale goes to help the town. It helps fund a town museum and the new skate park.
Movie Adaptation
The book Swindle was made into a TV movie. The movie, also called Swindle, was shown on Nickelodeon in 2013.
