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Review: Faker

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Faker
By Gordon Korman
New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages.

12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business?

Gordon Korman is a perennial favorite author with young readers for good reason. This book is humorous, engaging, personable, and insightful. A lot of readers will really connect with Trey and his conflict between wanting to do his own thing and make his father happy -- and will follow along closely as Trey starts to learn the difference between right and wrong. Trey takes an ethics class at school where he starts to really question the "family business." But despite their dubious deeds, Trey's family is a close-knit one -- their single father obviously cares deeply for his children, and Trey's ambitious (if a little evil) younger sister adds some extra humor. 
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