Jackpot (Swindle #6)

Korman, Gordon. Jackpot (Swindle #6)
January 7th 2014 by Scholastic Press

Griffin is back, still bedeviled by Darren Vader, and still hanging in there with his group of friends. However, there is a new kid in town, Victor Phoenix, who seems to hate Griffin and be intent on stealing all of Griffin's friends. When Griffin finds out that Victor was the target of bullying at his old school, he hopes to dissuade his friends from hanging around with the kid, but the plan backfires. When the news hits the town that a $30 million lottery ticket was sold nearby and needs to be claimed very soon before it expires, Griffin is bound and determined to find out where the ticket is. He starts by trying to fool Darren into thinking that it's in the garbage somewhere, but that plan backfires. Soon, he finds himself working with Darren (albeit briefly) and interviewing the former hippie owner of the convenience store, Mike. After a lot of running about and adventures, Griffin, Darren, and the rest of the gang figure out where the ticket is. The unorganized Mr. Fielder has been using it as a book mark in one of his many grievously overdue library books... which he has just returned to that Green Hollow Public Library. Can the group locate the ticket before the deadline is up?
Strengths: These books all have a fun, varied ensemble class, and first rate high jinks. Seeing Griffin working with Darren was kind of fun. This is Gordon Korman-- how can you do wrong?
Weaknesses:  This series doesn't get much attention from my students, so I would rather Mr. Korman wrap up this series and move on and write something else. Perhaps it is more popular in elementary libraries.