Book Reviews and More: Hideout - Gordon Korman

Hideout

Swindle Book 5

Scholastic Canada

ISBN 9780545448673

eISBN 9780545520188

ASIN B00AM4Y2DA

Hideout - Gordon Korman - Swindle Book 5

I have read over 95 books from Gordon Korman’s masterful pen. I did not read much when young because of a dual form of dyslexia, because of that I have a deep fondness for Middle Grade books, and books for tween and teens. Korman is one of the all-time masters. I set the goal of reading all his books about 2020. I have read books in all his series, and all of the standalone stories.

Not counting omnibus editions I believe that as of the summer of 2025 Korman has published 109 books. And one comes out early next year. As of the reading of this volume I am down to 13 unread books. With each that I read I am entertained and often challenged.

This book and was released originally in 2013 and the last in the series to date in 2016. There are 18 editions of this volume currently listed on Goodreads. This particular volume was released as three short eBooks before the full volume was released, they were:

The First Hideout

The Second Hideout

The Third Hideout

By mistake I picked up The First Highlight, and read it and only when I got to the end did I realize about the 3 shorter volumes. The description of this volume states:

“The Man With The Plan and his friends return in this fifth romp in the Swindle series -- now in paperback!

HIDEOUT: a place to escape detection, especially when being chased by someone determined to have revenge . . . When Griffin Bing and his friends first met Luthor, he was a vicious attack dog working for the slimy S. Wendell Palomino -- also known as Swindle. The kids rescued Luthor and never thought they'd see Swindle again. But now Swindle's returned. And he wants his dog back. Swindle has manipulated the law so that there's no way for Savannah Drysdale to keep Luthor in her house. Before he can be taken away, they decide to make him disappear -- away from Swindle. Six kids. Three hideouts. One extremely large dog. What could possibly go wrong?”

The about the author for this edition states:

“Gordon Korman’s first four books featuring Griffin Bing and his friends were Swindle, Zoobreak, Framed, and Showoff. His other books include This Can’t be Happening at Macdonald Hall (published when he was fourteen); The Toilet Paper Tigers; Radio Fifth Grade; the trilogies Island, Everest, Dive, Kidnapped, and Titanic; and the series On the Run. He lives in New York with his family and can be found on the Web at his website.”

I really did not know what to expect when I started this series. I left this series till the end for 2 main reasons. First it is the longest series to date by Korman. And Second, I am not a huge dog guy, and also not into anthropomorphic stories. I had never read the descriptions, and just kept skipping over it until it was the last series for me to start. That was my mistake, and a huge one at that. I was wrong on both concerns. Once I started that first one I really did not want to put it down. And it took a lot of effort not to just jump to the next volume, or rip my way through the series. I read books in a few series between books 4 and 5 in this series. Again, even though it had not been that long, it was a like a visit with old friends.

Book one is described as Ocean’s 11 with kids, it lived up to that statement, and to some extent even more with each new instalment. This fifth one has many of the gang facing their biggest fear, Luthor the Great Dane’s ownership is being challenged by S. Wendell Palomino. And the man with a plan comes up with a doozy. The team is split up across three different summer camps. Two are at regular summer camp, 2 are at drams camp, and 2 are at extreme sports camp.

Once again the team is working to save Luthor and this time their future selves as well.

This is another excellent story about friendship, about kids standing up, and about life in a small community. Griffin Bing is the man with a plan and that plan includes hiding a dog the court has ordered turned over. A lot can go wrong, and it all needs to go right, yet again, or things will be worse than when they started.

This is such an excellent story. It continues an amazing series. I can easily recommend it. It is a wonderful read from the master of the school story! But watch out for the mud and gunk along the way.