The Seventeenth Swap
Grade 5-7 Eric Greene, 12, looks after little Jimmy, his next door neighbor who is confined to a wheelchair. Jimmy covets a pair of red leather cowboy boots that he spotted in a newspaper ad, and Eric sets his heart on earning the $17.99 needed to buy the boots. Thus begins an adequate but not particularly engaging plot in which Eric wheels and deals and creates a swap system among his friends that will eventually turn up enough assets to buy Jimmy the boots. The long, complex sentences and the often difficult vocabulary slow down the predictable and not very convincing plot. The drive that Eric feels to buy Jimmy his boots is touching, as is their relationship, but the story lacks credibility or a hint of suspense. For a similar lesson about earning money, with a more original edge, try First Things First (Atheneum, 1986) by Kristi Holl. Karen Levi, Albany Public Library, N.Y.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.