Friday, August 9, 2019

‘To Catch a Cheat’ by Varian Johnson

Book cover, 'To Catch a Cheat' by Varian Johnson. Image depicts three students who appear to be stepping out from a camera lens. The student occupying the central position is a boy with a short black afro wearing a white dress shirt and red tie with black jacket over it, black pants, and red sneakers. To the viewer's left, just behind him on his right, is a girl with glasses and brown hair caught back in a pony-tail. She is wearing a red jacket, white shirt, black pants, and red shoes. To the viewer's left, behind the central character, is a boy with short, spiky brown hair wearing a white shirt with black raglan sleeves and neckline over red pants. This third figure is writing with a pen or pencil onto a small note-pad
To Catch a Cheat by Varian Johnson is an entertaining story about a youthful con artist. The protagonist, Jackson Greene, is determined to retire after an earlier successful heist that prevented school election wrong-doing.

Jackson and his crew are now being threatened by a doctored security video that appears to depict them flooding the entire middle school. To prevent the video being turned over to the principal, Jackson and his crew must engineer a heist of the answers for an upcoming test.

With this demand hanging over them, Jackson and “Gang Greene” are determined to uncover the real culprit(s). Who really flooded the school, and who is attempting to pressure them? An added complication concerns the fact that Jackson is being forced out of retirement. His friend Charlie de la Cruz had been prepared to take on leading the team, and Charlie has his own style of doing things.

This story will appeal to readers who enjoy complicated turns of plot, especially those who enjoy protagonists with a strong moral compass. As an added feature, the author, Varian Johnson, includes an explanation of several cultural references — including scenes from film and television — that relate to elements of the plot involving heists and schemes.

Readers may want to read The Great Greene Heist, which is set prior to this one, but To Catch a Cheat can be read on its own with the back-story easily understandable. I’d originally learned about this book from a librarian’s recommendation, and I’m looking forward to readers being able to check it out from our school library.
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