Review Detail

Trey and his sister Arianna have had a nomadic life, changing schools and moving to new places frequently, with "vacations" in exotic locales in between, because their father, Junior, is a con artist. They change names frequently, but always included the generational markers so they can be called the same thing. Arianna's name gets different spellings. Their mother left long ago, unable to deal with this lifestyle. The father settles in to a place with wealthy marks, like the Spealman School where Trey has befriended Rudy. He comes up with a scheme, like selling shares in a purebred show dog, gathers the money, and absconds. There's even a family safe word, "Houdini", for when the extractions have to take place. The latest one involved pulling Trey out in the middle of a lacrosse game after the parents at the school all started to realize they had bought shares in the same dog. The next stop is Boxelder, Tennessee, where the father has found a furnished house in a wealthy area called "The Point". Trey and Arianna's contribution to the con is to befriend wealthy children and introduce Junior to their parents. Arianna, who is younger, wants to play a larger role, and is proud to bring home Micah, whose parents are art dealers. Junior takes a while to figure out a scheme, and Trey settles in to the school, making friends with Logan and well as Kaylee Novak, whose father is also one of his teachers. Mr. Novak is starting a unit on ethics, which is uncomfortable for Trey, and Kaylee is determined to save the local Albion Pond, which has become derelict and filled with mosquitos, while the area around The Point is much nicer. Junior allows Trey to do this as long as he doesn't get him picture in the paper. Junior's plan turns out to be a new, flashy Electic Vehicle called "El Capitan". He has a guy put a new body on a Tesla, and drives the car around town. The parents are enthralled. Junior claims to be a lower echelon worker, but is able to take "investment money". This starts to add up to million of dollars, but Trey has his doubts. Not only does he want to stay with his new friends in Boxelder, but he starts to question his father's assertion that he only takes money from those who can afford it when Mr. Novak wants to invest Kaylee's college fund. When the news breaks that the new El Capitan factory will be built on the site of Albion Pond, things get even more complicated for Trey. How can he convince his father to give up his grifter lifestyle and embrace a more honest way of living?