Fakers

Fakers An Insider's Guide to Cons, Hoaxes, and Scams By: H.P. Wood / Illustrated by: David Clark From the Trojan horse to fake news, scams have run rampant throughout history and across the globe. Some con artists do it for fun, others for profit. . . and every once in a while, a faker saves the world. In this era of daily online hoaxes, it's easy to be caught off-guard. Fakers arms kids with information, introducing them to the funniest, weirdest, and most influential cons and scams in human history. Profiles of con artists will get readers thinking about motivation and consequences, and practical tips will help protect them from falsehoods. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is—except in the case of this book! If you like this book, you’ll enjoy these: The Boo-Boos That Changed the World Melvin the Mouth Strong as Sandow [TABS] Look Inside Author & Illustrator H.P. Wood, author H. P. Wood is the granddaughter of a mad inventor and a sideshow magician. She is also the author of Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet, a novel for adults about Coney Island con artists. Fakers is her first book for young readers. David Clark, illustrator David Clark is the illustrator of more than fifteen books for children, including Higgins Hole by Kevin Boreen, What's for Dinner? Quirky, Squirmy Poems from the Animal World by Katherine B. Hauth (a winner of the New Mexico Book Awards), and Pirate Bob by Kathryn Lasky. He is also the illustrator and co-creator of the syndicated comic strip Barney & Clyde. He lives in Luray, Virginia. Awards & Honors A Junior Library Guild Selection Children's Choices Book Award Finalist Editorial Reviews Kirkus Reviews In this lively look at the history of human trickery, Wood takes readers on a tour of cons, frauds, hoaxes, impersonations, and scams. The swindle is as old as history. The shell game, once called cups and balls, originated in ancient Rome. One example of a newer type of fakery, the "long con," is the pyramid scheme, and Wood recounts the scams used by two of its most infamous practitioners, Carlo Ponzi and Bernie Madoff. No book about fakery would be complete without a discussion of P.T. Barnum's many famous humbugs. Wood also reveals the tricks behind such carnival games as the ring toss, ball toss, and guessing games. Scientists have fallen prey to or helped perpetrate such hoaxes as the Rabbit Woman, the Lying Stones, and the Piltdown Man, but a long time passed before skeptical scientists were convinced the platypus was not a hoax. Deceptive practices in medicine have undoubtedly caused many injuries and deaths, but Wood recounts one medical hoax that saved dozens of Italian Jews when doctors in a Rome hospital convinced Nazis the Jews were afflicted with a dangerously infectious disease called Syndrome K and better kept in quarantine. These and more are all covered in lively prose that's delivered with a healthy sense of irony. Clark's full-color cartoons match Wood's tone and are augmented by archival illustrations and photographs. A delightfully revealing look at scammers and their scams. School Library Journal In nine topical chapters, this volume describes the ways in which people have swindled one another on the street, in their personal relationships, and in the media. Featuring anecdotes ranging from hilarious to disturbing, the book covers quite a lot of territory, from the 18th-century Rabbit Woman of Godalming to contemporary issues with fake news and Internet hoaxes. Although the text seems somewhat dense at first glance, readers will soon be fascinated with the mind-boggling stories of a wide variety of cons, which are written in a style that deftly balances incredulity with seriousness when sharing the bizarre facts and takeaways from each situation. Scattered throughout are short spotlight stories, and frequent footnotes serve to inform and amuse readers. Visual elements include contemporary photos, historical images, and Clark’s colorful, cartoony drawings; back matter includes ample suggestions for further reading, arranged by chapter topic. VERDICT This engrossing read is a solid choice for medium to large nonfiction collections. Downloadables Download the Cover Details Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-58089-743-3 E-book ISBN: 978-1-63289-565-3 EPUB ISBN: 978-1-63289-566-0 PDF Ages: 10 and up Page count: 176 73/8 x 9 Correlated to Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts-Literacy. Reading Literature. Grade 5. Standards 1-6, 10 English Language Arts-Literacy. Reading Literature. Grade 6. Standards 1-6, 10 [/TABS]