The Kid Who Beat Wall Street and Saved Africa is a social issues-oriented action novel for children, grades 4-6, written by Ginger Heller. Marco Polo Blackberry had somehow managed to make $10,000 in the stock market, and it was a surprisingly effortless accomplishment. His mind grappled with the things he knew he wanted to buy, even as he tried to accept the fact that he had been so successful. It had all started innocently enough; he simply took advantage of the fact that the White and Garrett Brokerage Firm had offered him free trading for four months. They hadn’t really meant to offer it to him; it was his father who they were trying to lure back as a customer, but that typographical error substituting his middle initial had meant the letter went to Marco. He had used his life savings and taken a gamble -- and it had paid off brilliantly. While he pondered the newest tech, ski boards and luxury trips, he was also very much aware that there were people out there in need. The lunchroom supervisor had showed him a picture of a starving four-year-old from Africa and his friend Piper’s pen pal from Albania had shared the hardships her two friends had endured trying to emigrate to Italy.

Ginger Heller’s The Kid Who Beat Wall Street and Saved Africa is an imaginative and upbeat story about kids who are making a difference in the world, and how they manage to do it. I was awed by the power of Marco and his friends’ network and loved seeing how they were able to coordinate and apply their particular skills to situations occurring in other countries. I also enjoyed learning about Commodity Trading, and how contracts are bought and sold. Heller’s story is both fun and educational, and her characters feel like the real kids they are. There’s also a bonus at the end of the book in the form of three Appendices which include: 100 Words of Interest; A Glossary of Foreign Words and Phrases; A Glossary of Trading Terms and the Key to Marco’s Secret Code. Each one is a delight and not to be missed. While most kids and adults will probably not experience Marco’s mind-boggling success with the Stock Market, it’s a grand thing to know how it works, just in case. The Kid Who Beat Wall Street and Saved Africa is most highly recommended.

Marco Polo is not your ordinary middle school boy. While his classmates are thinking about games and parties and homework, Marco’s mind is far away, coming up with awesome ideas to solve all of his friends’ problems. Up until now, all of their problems have been pretty small, ordinary things. However, the stakes are quickly getting higher and higher. Beginning with figuring out how to free a friend’s brother who was wrongly imprisoned, Marco starts making a name for himself among his friends. Pretty soon, Roo will bring Marco a new challenge in the form of Hakim’s story. From measles to bandits to war to famine, Hakim and his village are struggling in every sense of the word... But Marco is only a kid, so how can he help a struggling community on the other wide of the world? With some stocks, some corn, some stubbornness, and some good old fashioned ingenuity, that’s how!

The Kid Who Beat Wall Street and Saved Africa is an extremely well written book. Both the main characters and the supporting cast are well rounded, well fleshed out human beings. The descriptions are accurate and detailed enough to give us a good idea where the characters are at and what they’re doing, but there’s not so much detail that it chokes the story. The plot is fast paced and easy to follow, and it grips you right from the first page. Overall, it’s a wonderful story for young readers, and a great example for middle grade students that they too can make a real difference in the world. I highly recommend this book!