The Short Seller

Weissman (Nerd Camp) chooses an unusual subject for middle-grade fiction—playing the stock market—as the focus for this lively and engaging novel, and it pays dividends. Sick at home, 12-year-old Lindy Sachs agrees to make a simple stock trade for her father while he’s at work. Excited by the transaction and intrigued by the concept of making money by investing in stocks, Lindy receives $100 from her parents to try her hand at it as she recovers from mononucleosis. Careful research—reading trading charts, following day-trading blogs, and paying attention to current events—pays off; playing the market gives Lindy a new appreciation for math and the realization that she is good at using it to make money. But once Lindy succumbs to the temptation to play with her parents’ money, market dramas hit much too close to home. Weissman builds layers of suspense as Lindy fixes one disastrous situation only to be hit with an even worse blow; the author also smoothly weaves information about the stock market and finance into the story’s family dynamics and middle-grade friendship problems. A smart pick. Ages 8–12. (May)