History Literature / Swindle

“Jingle” (2016)

* HufflepuffHouse: In “Hideout”, there are three camps that the main six go to during the summer to hide away Luthor. They are Camp Ebony Lake, Camp Ta-Da!, and Camp Endless Pines. Camp Ebony Lake is a sports camp, Camp Ta-Da! is a theatre and drama camp, and Camp Endless Pines is a mountaineer and hiking camp. While the first two are shown in great detail and consist the first two acts of the book, Camp Endless Pines is not as focuses on in Act 3, as Pitch and Ben have to abandon it in order to pursue the captured Luthor.

* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: The main team in “Jingle”, when they are suspected of stealing the Star of Prague.

* TwentyMinutesInTheFuture: It isn’t specific on which year the story starts out but given the fact that “Swindle” has October 16th on a Thursday and “Zoobreak” has April 15th next year on a Wednesday, that would mean the first book takes place in October 2014, “Zoobreak” on April 2015, and “Jingle” on December 2016.

* 20MinutesInTheFuture: It isn’t specific on which year the story starts out but given the fact that “Swindle” has October 16th on a Thursday and “Zoobreak” has April 15th next year on a Wednesday, that would mean the first book takes place in October 2014, “Zoobreak” on April 2015, and “Jingle” on December 2016.

* FluffyTamer: Savannah

* AmbiguouslyJewish: Ben Slovak. His last name is usually a Jewish surname, and he fits certain Jewish stereotypes such as being unusually small. Jingle finally subverts this. It is revealed that he is HALF-Jewish. His father is Jewish, while his mother is Christian. Come Christmas with chaps going on, this interrelations marriage goes throughQUITE a strain.

* CrocodileTears: When interviewed by CNN after the Zoobreak, Mr. Nastase fake weeps in front of the camera, pretending to have cared about the animals that had been taken from his zoo. Because he, in reality, only cares about his business, makes Savannah seethe with infuriation upon talking about it.
* DastardlyWhiplash: Mr. Nastase, the main villain in “Zoobreak”, is very much this trope. He’s a tall cadaverous man, he wears elegant clothing that includes puffy sleeves, and he has a thin mustache that was shaped like the apex of the Great Pyramid.
* EatingLunchAlone: Griffin in “Jackpot”. After Darren strongly implies in an anti-bullying assembly to that Griffin is a massive bully to the ENTIRE SCHOOL, no one but his friends want to sit next to him at all. However, because of Victor stealing the spotlight, now Griffin doesn’t have anyone sitting next to him at ALL. This leaves him feeling very bitter and lonely.

* FullNameUltimatum: Ben’s mother, Estelle Slovak, is shown in Showoff to use his full name at him when she’s really upset at him for something. Once when he’s celebrating Luthor being sent to the pound, and one when she discovers that he has not actually been going to swim lessons. In the second time, Ben himself lampshades this, as her calling him by “Benjamin” is usually a sign that she is angry with him over something.

* IntrepidReporter: Celia White in ''Framed''. She isn’t allowed to print out the names of children, but that certainly doesn’t stop her from making articles and drawing attention to the fact that the break-in In Swindle and the All Aboard Animals heist in Zoobreak were concocted by a group of juvenile delinquents in Cedarville. And this goes FromBadToWorse.

* JewishMother: Ben’s mother, Estelle Slovak, is AmbiguouslyJewish, as she’s very fussy, likes to be uptight about things, and wants societal decency. Turns out to be inverted in Jingle, where it turns out that only her HUSBAND is Jewish, but SHE is Christian.

** In “Zoobreak,” it is revealed that Ben is the smallest person by far in the class, able to squeeze very small ducts in the boat.
** In “Framed”, the end of the book reveals that Pitch has honey-blond hair, revealed when she takes off her football helmet in a surprising scene.
** In “Unleashed”, it is revealed that Logan has short brown hair when it’s revealed that it’s been changed as part of a disguise.

* TheSixthRanger: Griffin’s plan for his first break-in in Swindle is the FiveManBand as shown above. However, Darren happened to be eavesdropping and wants in on the action. So Griffin reluctantly makes him this, with helping the team carry a ladder to t into the place.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: A frequent trope throughout the series. Griffin realizes in the first book that he thought his plan was perfect, but when he realizes that they left the ladder used to get inside the place that belongs to the Vader’s at the crime scene, he realizes that one crucial detail linked to them could lead to their downfall. Indeed, his innocence is slowly unraveled by the afternoon.

* YouAreGrounded: The whole team gets this treatment in Jingle. When they are caught stalking a person they assume to have stolen the Star of Prague, Officer Vizzini advises their parents to use harsh punishments on their children to teach them that their actions have consequences. The parents take his advice personally, and punish their children hard. The worst of all of these is Melissa. While her parents are usually thrilled at the fact that their daughter has such supportive friends before she didn’t have any, this time they decided they shouldn’t leave her daughter unpunished in these mishaps. So they take away all her electronics, gadgets, and even her autograph from a famous inventor.

* IntrepidReporter: Celia White in ''Framed''

* RealityEnsues: A frequent trope throughout the series. Griffin realizes in the first book that he thought his plan was perfect, but when he realizes that they left the ladder used to get inside the place that belongs to the Vader’s at the crime scene, he realizes that one crucial detail linked to them could lead to their downfall. Indeed, his innocence is slowly unraveled by the afternoon.

* GentleGiant: Klaus in Zoobreak. He is stated to be 6’8, and he is quite the sweetheart. Unlike his boss, he actually cares about the animals

* BlindingBangs: Melissa’s Dukakis, the electronics expert in the group, has these. Most people can hardly spot her eyes underneath her hair.

* InsistentTerminology: Savannah constantly corrects people on saying that animals in the Drysdale household are not “her” pets, but members of her family. Also, when people refer to an animal as “it”, she insists that they instead use “he” and “she” or “him” or “her”.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Whenever the team gets into trouble, Logan complains about how this trouble could seriously his damage as an actor. Pitch usually complains to him about this.

* RealityEnsues: A frequent trope throughout the series. Griffin realizes in the first book that he thought his plan was perfect, but when he realizes that they left the ladder used to get inside the place that is belonging to the Vader’s at the crime scene, he realizes that one odd detail could lead to his downfall. Indeed, his innocence is slowly unraveled by the next day.

* YouAreGrounded: The whole team gets this treatment in Jingle. When they are caught stalking a person they assume to have stolen the Star of Prague, Officer Vizzini advises their parents to use harsh punishments on their children to teach them that their actions have consequences. The parents take his advice personally, and punish their children hard. The worst of all of these is Melissa. While her parents are usually thrilled at the fact that their daughter has such supportive friends before she didn’t have any, this time they decided they shouldn’t leave her daughter unpunished in these mishaps. So they take away all her electronics, gadgets, and even her signature from a famous inventor.

* TheBully: Darren Vader, the son to the lawyer of Mr. Bing, is this big time. He is a JerkassToOne with Griffin Bing, picking on him any chance he gets. Ironically, when Griffin and his team retaliate by playing a nasty prank on Darren, THEY are seen as the bullies. Because of this, their chill holds an anti-bullying assembly in which Darren speaks as a victim of bullying, much to Griffin’s humiliation.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Savannah

** This is especially clear when they trick Darren Vader, their enemy, into thinking that a winning lottery ticket was thrown away, causing him to look through dumpsters and trash cans all over town. When the team are caught, they are forced to do community service and are seen as bullies. Ben even points out to Griffin that to the adults in town who don’t know Darren all that well, what they did to him was “one hundred percent mean.”

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Pitch Benson's real name is Antonia, but she only goes by her rock climbing name.

** TheLancer: Ben

* IntrepidReporter: Celia White.

''Swindle'' is a 2008 book by Creator/GordonKorman. The book centers on sixth grader Griffin Bing, who thinks he has found the solution to his family's money problems when he finds a Babe Ruth baseball card in a condemned house. However, a dealer rips him off, and he gathers a group of his peers to help him reclaim what is rightfully his. The book was made into [[Film/Swindle a film]] in 2013 and was followed by a number of sequels:

* {Foreshadowing}: In the first book, Ben displays his ability to fall asleep very easily. Turns out, [[spoiler: he has narcolepsy, a fact which he reveals to Griffin as they are about to perform the heist.]]

* Foreshadowing: In the first book, Ben displays his ability to fall asleep very easily. Turns out, [[he has narcolepsy, a fact which he reveals to Griffin as they are about to perform the heist.]]