Review of Swindle by Gordon Korman

Read for: TBR/Beat the Backlist

Synopsis: "Ocean's 11... with 11-year-olds, in a super stand-alone heist caper from Gordon Korman!

After a mean collector named Swindle cons him out of his most valuable baseball card, Griffin Bing must put together a band of misfits to break into Swindle's compound and recapture the card. There are many things standing in their way -- a menacing guard dog, a high-tech security system, a very secret hiding place, and their general inability to drive -- but Griffin and his team are going to get back what's rightfully his . . . even if hijinks ensue. 

This is Gordon Korman at his crowd-pleasing best, perfect for readers who like to hoot, howl, and heist."

My Review: I have had this book sitting on my shelf waiting for Munchkin to get a little older, he is about at the age to read it now so I thought I would give it a try first. We have a doberman and that was why I originally picked it up, not realizing the doberman in the book was not at all like our dopey marshmallow. While I think this book will certainly appeal to the target audience and young readers will enjoy the suspense and adventure in it, as an adult thinking about letting my child read it, I see and encouragement of the distrust between kids and adults as well as the acts of defiance and adults just not understanding. It may be a great read for a lot of young readers but it will be a few more years before Munchkin is ready for this book, he is already quick to fear and I do not need him becoming afraid of our dog.

My Rating: This one is a little tough for me to rate because I think it is a great book for young boys who understand the difference between fiction and reality, the heist would certainly draw in those young adventure seekers, but at the same time it is not at all appropriate for Munchkin due to his own personality.  I give it a Three Paw rating but remind parents to always be conscious of what your child is reading.