Framed

“Under any other circumstances, Griffin would have stood right up to Darren Vader, his archenemy. But right now the priority was to save the retainer. His parents had made it clear that he was to guard the expensive dental appliance with his life.”

In the first chapter, Gordon Korman introduces his characters by involving them in the action of the story and describing their characteristics as part of the narrative. For the main character, Griffin, Korman also introduces his dental appliance that becomes one of two key objects in the story, the other being the stolen Super Bowl ring.

“Griffin looked up, too horrified to read on. The article was about him and his friends!

The principal fixed his piercing eyes on Griffin. ‘You’re regular celebrities around here, you and your buddies.’

‘It’s not true!’ Griffin managed in a strangled voice. ‘I mean, it all sort of happened—but not like it’s written there!’”

Egan derides Griffin and his group of friends in this passage, but it’s only the first occasion in the novel when an adult makes a judgment about a young person based upon hearsay. In this case, the principal is relying on the reporting of Celia White, whom the storyline reveals to be completely biased, having decided that Griffin and his friends are troublemakers. To his credit, Egan ultimately observes the actions of Griffin and his friends, determines them to be worthy, and condemns the judgmentalism of White.

“The bell rang, and the bustle in the hall grew louder. Tony melted into the crowd, and Darren took his leave with a cheerful ‘Later losers.’

Pitch shook her head in amazement. ‘Is it just me, or is this place even weirder than our last school?’

‘I have a prescription ferret,’ Ben said with a sigh. ‘I’m not a good judge of weird.’”

Korman’s Swindle series follows Griffin and his friends through their school years. Framed deals with their entry into seventh grade, which for these children is the first year of middle school. Rather than focusing on the shift in schools and the movement from being the oldest students to being the youngest students, Korman marks the