Busted

Oscar Aberdeen, 12, has lived with his grandfather at the Sunny Days Retirement Home since birth. The owner of the home dies, and his son takes over, raising the rents. Oscar and Pops are likely to lose their home. But Jimmy deLuca, an old tough guy at the home, offers Oscar enough money to save their home if Oscar helps Jimmy leave the home for a day. Oscar shouldn’t, but decides he has to. As they are sneaking out, the daughter of the new owner, Natasha, also 12, tags along. Jimmy is an old gangster, and some of the places they go to are sketchy. And there’s criminal activity. Will Oscar survive the day and save his home?

Dan Gemeinhart has written a real romp of a story. The characters are quirky, funny, and smart; the writing is terrific; the setting is perfect; and the story is very, very compelling. Gemeinhart has a wicked sense of humor, and that humor is splashed all over this book. Some of the situations border on the ridiculous, but somehow Gemeinhart makes the readers buy in completely. This book is too much fun to be read only by middle-graders. Everyone should get a copy.