From the #1 bestselling author of RESTART, the story of a family of liars... and the son who wants to break the family tradition.
Trey knows the drill: His dad gets him into a school full of kids with rich parents. Trey makes friends, and his dad makes connections. Soon, there's the con, where Trey's dad suckers the other parents into investing in one of his schemes. Once the money's in the bank, Trey, his sister, and their dad are on the run... until they set up somewhere else and start again.
Trey believes his father when he says no one's getting hurt. After all, these parents have money to spare.
But Trey's starting to get tired of running... and lying... and never having a friend for longer than a few months. But how do you get your family to stop lying when your lives depend on it?---from the publisher
224 pages 978-1338826753 Ages 8-12
Keywords: coming of age, family life, humor, school issues, values, lying, parents, main character male, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old
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“Mr. McAvoy stays with the dog a little longer, peering and occasionally poking. The Great Dane bears this with restraint, like a movie star who has to put up with the paparazzi every now and then. At last, McAvoy takes out a check and hands it over to Dad, ‘My investment in full.’”
“Got a case of dynamite
I could hold out here all night
Yes I crossed my old man back in Oregon
Don't take me alive”
– Steely Dan (1976)
“Mr. McAvoy gets back in the chopper and the three of us–me, Dad, and the Great Dane–watch it take off and disappear into the distance.
Dad pats his pocket. ‘Another satisfied customer.’
‘Where to now?’ I ask. Back to Spealman?’
‘Soon. First we have to get rid of the mutt.’
I stare. ‘He isn’t ours?’
‘Are you kidding? What would we do with a dog?’
‘But the dog show! The winner’s circle at Westminster!’
My father smiles–a warm, friendly smile. It’s honest and open and makes people like him and trust him. That’s usually a mistake.
‘We don’t have to own a show dog. We just need marks like McAvoy to think we do. This dog’s a rental. We have to get him back to the agency before they charge us for an extra half day.’
I don’t know why I’m so surprised; I should know my father by now. ‘You rented Lord Gladstone,’ I say.
He nods. ‘The dog’s an actor. I know a guy who rents out trained animals for TV commercials. That’s where I got him. And his name isn’t Lord Gladstone. It’s Ernie.”
Mr. McAvoy’s son is Trey’s latest roomie and new friend. Trey, who narrates the tale, and his sister Arianna, periodically receive new identities and new fancy schools to attend. Trey buddies up to his rich classmates, and his dad proceeds to fleece the classmates’ parents with his latest scam. The ill-gotten proceeds go into the bank, and are promptly transferred into untraceable bitcoin.
That’s how Dad has made his living for as far back as Trey and his sister can remember. (They were too young to recall their mother abandoning ship.) Eventually, often several times a year, it has been on to the next identity, school, good buddy, and fleecing. Trey is proudly in training to be a partner in the family business.
I’ve read a lot of Gordon Korman’s books and I am used to a blizzard of humor. But this one is for the books. Did you ever have one of those experiences as a kid in the lunchroom, where someone says something so funny that some kid has milk running out of their nose? By page fifteen of FAKER, I was recalling such memories and was quite glad that I wasn’t at that moment trying to sip my mug of oat milk hot chocolate. That’s how hilariously this tale starts out.
But, big surprise! FAKER turns out to be an incredibly profound read, unquestionably one of Korman’s best of the best. It’s the ultimate coming-of-age tale, the story of a tween who is severing himself and his personal beliefs from those of his father. Given the delicacy and secrecy of Dad’s swindling operations, this causes significant, lively, father-son conflict.
When I was a kid, I dutifully read and watched the news, as teachers repeatedly instructed. And I read a lot. It all led to my eventually gaining information and information skills, and realizing that many things my father said and did didn’t jibe with what I knew or found to be true. That was a major step to my becoming my own independent person.
What leads to a similar change in Trey’s belief system? Well, there’s a cool girl. Her father is Trey’s social studies teacher. Mr Novak is teaching a unit on ethics that compels Trey to think and dig deeper:
“Before, it never bothered me that my life was unsettled because there was always Dad. He knew what he was doing. He was solid as rock. He made the tough decisions and he was never wrong. He kept our world safe and under control, no matter how quickly situations changed, problems arose, and dangers swirled around us.
I don’t see that Dad anymore. He hasn’t changed at all, so the difference must be me.”
FAKER will cause plenty of readers to think twice about the bill of goods that their parents may be selling them. It’s an exceptionally entertaining thriller of a read, one that is quite capable of radically expanding readers’ minds and senses of self.
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, California USA
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Twelve-year old Trey is the son of a con man. His father has been in the con game forever and it's the only life Trey has ever known. When he was younger, he knew they moved a lot and he had to change schools frequently, but Trey learns about his father's game and does his part to help his family. Doing his part means making friends with kids who are from wealthy families and introducing Dad to them. The game is then on! Trey is torn between helping his dad and questioning the morality of it all, but Dad says they only take from those who are so rich they won't even miss the money.
If a con goes sour or his dad suspects the marks are savvy to his game, the family knows the term "Houdini" means LEAVE NOW. Trey and his sister do not have time to pack a bag or say goodbye to the new friends they've made. It's "get out of town" time. They ditch their phones because the phones can be tracked. They jet off to a beach somewhere for a "vacation" which means Dad will plan their next game. They buy new clothes, new phones and have no contact EVER to the people they have met.
The con life is getting old, but Trey is excited when his dad makes him a full partner to the scams. Younger sister Arianna voices her opinion about Dad favoring Trey because he's a boy, but Dad assures her that her time will come.
The next town they move to is in Kentucky and Dad's new scam is selling shares in a "secret" start up company that will manufacture the El Capitan, a car Dad has made using his specifications to look like the grandest new car on the market. It is so captivating to the eye, and Dad makes sure to influence Trey's friend's parents by his well-timed, smooth delivery, salesman smile and his demeanor that all say El Capitan is the "next big thing," He assures would-be investors the car will be unattainable, rare, and in such short supply, they better act quickly.
Trey is sailing along great, making new friends, enjoying himself until he gets an anonymous note warning him: I know what you're doing. Now he's freaking out! What if anonymous blows up their game? Trey is saved by a friend who knows the con game well because his family has their own game.
His friend says the FBI isn't too far away, so Dad dumps the scam claiming the El Capitan has mechanical problems. Trey and his family are forced out of crime, but Dad has an answer for everything. Their future looks bright!
Faked is a rollicking joy-ride full of humor and heart. Korman, always a masterful storyteller, shines in this latest book. Faked is by far the best book Korman has put out in a very long time. Highly entertaining and easy to read for even the most reluctant of readers.
Highly, highly recommended ages 8-12 and even older if the reader loves Korman and diabolical antics.
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Recommended by: Thompson McLeod (Pamela),blogger, reviewer, literary intern, writer ,lifelong YA librarian, Florida USA
