The Great Brain by John D Fitzgerald

"It wasn't me who let Abie starve to death," Tom said. "I knew there was no gold in the strongbox, but that only meant Abie wasn't a rich man to me. When Mamma sent me to the store, I always went to the variety store first. Many times when Abie didn't have exzactly what Mamma wanted, I went all the way back home and asked her if she couldn't use something else Abie had suggested. No, J.D. it wasn't people like me who let Abie starve to death. It was people like you."

The Great Brain is a cute kid’s story. The stories are told by John, younger brother and often-time victim of Tom's "great brain" and "money-loving heart."

They take place in small-town southern Utah at the end of the 1800's. Tom, the Great Brain, uses his cleverness to outwit and swindle most of the other kids in town, and many of the adults. Sometimes Tom's plans have disastrous results, and the consequences that follow are very real. It handles the realism of life in the old west very well, and from a child’s perspective.

It did really annoy me to see this series compared to Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer so much. I even read one review that said, “I wouldn’t touch those Wilder books with a ten foot pole, but I could certainly relate to Tom Dennis Fitzgerald.” Lame.

From another review: WARNNING: PEOPLE CUSS (SWEAR) IN THIS BOOK 3-5 TIMES.