Originally published in 1967, the first of eight best-selling Great Brain titles introduces us to J. D., an eight-year-old boy living in Utah in 1896, and his older brother Tom, aka The Great Brain, a silver-tongued con artist with a genius for making a profit. Whether he's charging admission to see Papa's new water closet, the first in town; getting rid of the mean new schoolmaster; or teaching a boy with a peg leg that he is not useless, Tom's great brain turns every situation to his advantage.