Faker

Gr 4-8–Twelve-year-old Trey Whitfield—no, wait, now he’s Trey Kirkwood—has a problem. His father’s business as a high-rolling con man means that Trey and his younger sister are always one disappearing act away from leaving their newly made friends and home. When the marks start getting suspicious, Trey and his family pull a Houdini, dump their current identities, create new lives, and move on to the next big job. Trey has always been okay with his dad’s schemes because they only target the super-rich who will not miss the money anyway. But are all the marks really uber-wealthy? While the ground is being laid for the next con, Trey begins to question his dad and his swindling ways. A teacher helps him think about the ethical issues involved in his family’s line of work; isn’t what the family does just sophisticated stealing? They are taking the life savings of friends and neighbors who will be destitute. This is a highly readable, slightly dated middle grade book with a predictable ending. Trey is a well-developed character, but most of the secondary characters are flat. The minor love story between Trey and a classmate is very contrived.