Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Themes: Humor, Coming of Age, Family, Crime
Grade Level: Young Adult
Curricular Connections: Social Studies (Mob History), Language Arts (Types of Literary Comedy)

Vince Luca does not want to get involved in his family’s business. His brother and brother-in-law are already holding jobs in the organization. His father is constantly lecturing him on getting motivated about what he does want to do since he is already 17 years old. Vince wants to get as far away as possible since his dad is a mobster and is the boss in a powerful mob organization. In an attempt to stay uninvolved, he tries to help Jimmy the Rat keep all his fingers by assisting him in paying off his debt to Vince’s father. As he spirals deeper into the crime scene, no aspect of his life seems to remain separate. His brother Tommy uses his school website project as a horse betting site. Vince’s best friend Alex thinks about girls 25 hours a day, and tries to live vicariously through Vince’s love life. The problem is, Vince falls for a girl whose father is the FBI agent in charge of investigating Vince’s father, Anthony Luca, and he wants nothing more than to put him in jail. Through lots of sticky situations and humorous dialogue, Vince ends up getting Jimmy the Rat off the hook, saving his family, uncovering the undercover agent in his father’s organization, and keeping the girl!

Sequel: Hollywood Hustle

Classroom Suggestions:

1. Research actual mobsters that were mentioned in the book such as Al Copne. Write or report on the types of business transactions they would have run, the life style they lead, and how easy it was for law enforcement to catch them. What were the consequences?

2. Vince’s father often mentions that what he does isn’t that different from what the guys on wall street are doing. Compare and contrast the differences of working on wall street to that of what of mobster/loan shark would do.

3. Research the different types of humor that can be found in literature such as slap stick comedy, irony, sarcasm, etc. Then find examples of each in the reading.