Con Academy

TITLE: Con Academy
AUTHOR: Joe Schreiber
RELEASE DATE: August 2015
PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
PAGES: 236 pages
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
OVERALL RATING: 3/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 7-12 

SUMMARY: Will Shay is the newest student at Connaughton Academy, where he doesn't quite fit in among the entitled group of students. He is a scholarship kid who came from the tiny island of Ebeye where his missionary parents died in a plane crash delivering medicine to the orphans. Or is he? When Will meets Andrea Dufresne, and she calls him on his fake story, Will learns he might not be the only con artist on campus. 

FAVORITE QUOTE: "In life, as in the big con, sometimes there is no angle. Sometimes you just have to play it as it lays." (Schreiber, 236)
   

WHAT I LIKED: This book was an extremely fast read. I sat down one afternoon and next thing I know I'm half way through the book. I finished the entire book in less than two days. It never got dull, and the ending was a big surprise. Which I always love, because I am the worst about predicting the ending of a book.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I found the ending really questionable. It's hard to explain without spoiling the story, but through all the action at the end, I found myself really asking, "How did he...", "Would he really get away with that?", "They're just going to leave that as is...", "His parents didn't question...", "Can h really do that?", etc. Once you finish the book, you'll understand. 

READALIKE:  The Curse Workers series by Holly Black

BOOK TRAILER: this is not the official book trailer, but it was created by a Firsco ISD librarian for use with the Lone Star book list