swindlers and swindling

Jolene Chastain, a con artist since early childhood, assumes the identity of a girl who went missing years before and weaves a new life of deception with a wealthy Boston family.

"Young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meet a charming trickster, Hector, and together they set off on an extraordinary journey"--Back cover.

After unscrupulous collector S. Wendell Palamino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into Palomino's heavily guarded store and steal the card back, planning to use the money to finance his father's failing invention, the SmartPick fruit picker.

Wanting to be more like his father, a young boy spends all of his money on a product that will supposedly let him grow a beard almost instantly.

"Some women get everything. Some women get everything they deserve. Amber Patterson is fed up. She's tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more--a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne--a socialite and philanthropist--and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale. Amber's envy could eat her alive...if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne's compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family's life--the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her"--Provided by publisher.

When Maya is involved in a fender bender with a man and his seemingly pregnant passenger, his suggestion to handle the situation without involving the police or insurance seems odd. But when Maya sees the woman later, clearly not pregnant, she begins to suspect she's a victim of a scam.

Two witches, Sixteen-year-old Macie O'Sullivan and her mother Aubra, travel from town to town stealing everything they can then erasing the minds of those they've met. They soon arrive in a community of witches called Witchtown, and Aubra promises Macie that Witchtown is the last one. But as she learn more about the town, Macie begins to realize that secrets may have more power than money.

Seventeen-year-old Ginny Blackstone precipitously travels from her home in New Jersey to London when she receives a message from an unknown man telling her he has the letters that were stolen just before she completed a series of mysterious tasks assigned by her now dead aunt, an artist.

Jaxter Grimjinx, born into a clan of thieves, but unable to pull off a successful heist because of his clumsiness, learns his family members are supposed to be the next heroes of Vengekeep, and, with the help of a new friend, he faces off against flaming monsters, a bazaar of thieves, and a renegade sorcerer while trying to become a hero.