Look out Wall Street—Lindy Sachs is about to make some serious cash. A twelve-year-old takes on the stock market in this money-minded middle grade novel. It all starts when seventh grader Lindy Sachs is granted $100 and access to her father’s online trading account as a way to alleviate her boredom while she’s home sick from school. Lindy learns something immediately—she is very, very good at e-trading. Her $100 becomes $200. Then $400. And more. With trading talent and access to her parents’ savings, the opportunity to make some real dough is too tempting to pass up. In fact, given how well Lindy’s stocks are doing, it would be a disservice to not invest it all… Right? Gr 5-7-When seventh-grader Lindy Sachs comes down with mononucleosis, she feels as if she has contracted The Plague. She is trapped in her house for two weeks: no school, no friends, no fun. This all changes when her father gives her the password to his online trading account and $100 to invest at her own discretion. Lindy starts out investing five or ten dollars in her favorite companies, but after a few small successes and some research into online trading, she realizes the potential that investing can hold, especially when you have unfettered access to your parents' life savings. When a bad investment results in a $25,000 loss, Lindy has to scramble to make back the money, and navigate the resulting consequences of lawyers, the SEC, and possible jail time for her father. Weissman is successful in crafting a story that includes a young person's view of the crackdown on insider trading. The premise is a bit far-fetched, but the realistic friend and family interactions make up for this overreach in the plot.-Colleen S. Banick, Westport Public Schools, CTα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. The cover of Weissman’s latest middle-school novel features 12-year-old heroine Lindy Sachs, happy as a clam and waist-deep in hundred-dollar bills. Thankfully, the entertaining story inside carries much more tension and drama. Like Weissman’s previous book (Nerd Camp, 2011), this follows a smart kid learning life lessons, though Lindy very quickly gets into some adult-size trouble. (How does forced testimony at the SEC sound?) At the outset, Lindy is content with life, her friends, and even her struggles with advanced math. But she gets bored when she is home alone with mono, and so she begins buying and selling stocks online with $100 her parents gave her for that purpose. And then she dips into her parents’ account. Weissman makes Lindy’s mistakes believable, all the while explaining the stock market, short selling, and insider trading in vivid terms. Lindy’s shifting relationships with her friends and family are well described, with her father’s upbeat outlook a necessary counterpoint to the dire SEC accusations being raised against him and Lindy. Fittingly, Lindy emerges poorer but wiser in the end. Grades 4-7. --Abby Nolan "What a fun novel and a great way to get kids excited about the power of math in the real world! The protagonist, Lindy, evolves from math-phobic child to stock market whiz kid, learning that math is much more than a class at school; it's key to making money. All of this in a book that is fun and energetic and filled with relatable characters. Inspiring kids to see the value in math is one of my passions, and Elissa Brent Weissman has hit the nail on the head with The Short Seller ." -- Danica McKellar, actress and New York Times Bestselling author (Math Doesn't Suck, Kiss My Math) Elissa Brent Weissman is the author of The Short Seller , Nerd Camp , Nerd Camp 2.0 , Standing for Socks , The Trouble with Mark Hopper , and the editor of Our Story Begins . She lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Visit her at EBWeissman.com. The Short Seller Chapter 1 Sweet Spot Lindy yawned and weighed the options on the table. She could start her homework, or she could start eating her plate of warm minicookies. Like there was even a choice. She stacked two of the cookies and bit into them together. “Double-decker,” Howe said. “You should eat one at a time so they last longer.” “Nah,” said Lindy. She sucked a blob of melted chocolate off her finger. “That’s no fun.” Howe slid into the booth opposite her and looked upside down at the books spread across the table. He barely even glanced at Lindy’s plate of cookies, which didn’t surprise Lindy but still amazed her. Somehow his dad being a baker had made Howe immune to the allure of sweets. Lindy thought if her dad worked at the Sweet Escape, she’d eat nothing but dessert. “Are you ready for the math test on Friday?” Howe asked. “Ugh, of course not.” Lindy laid her head on her arm. “Steph’s going to help me when she gets here. You should sit with us too. I can use all the help I can get.” Howe didn’t try to hide his dislike for Steph. “I have to help my dad,” he said, nodding toward the counter. “But if