Inventing Elliot [Paperback]

Graham Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2004

After being bullied mercilessly, Elliot is determined to reinvent himself when he moves house with Mum and Dad and goes to a new school. He is going to be so cool that no one will touch him. He's going to stand out just enough not to get noticed. But he is too successful, and he does get noticed by the Guardians. They are a mysterious group of three who manipulate others and run the school with a reign of terror. They invite Elliot to become one of them. He faces an agonising decision, whether to use this new found power or risk standing up for himself and facing the consequences.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this stunning first novel, Graham Gardner pays homage to Robert Cormier’s great The Chocolate War with a story about a boy trying to survive in a school run by a vicious secret society. But where Jerry Renault resists the system, only to succumb to it in the end, Elliot Sutton is more eager to do its bidding, and doesn’t take action to resist until it is almost too late. At first Elliot had hoped that it would be different at Holminster High. He carries the fear always--the fear of the beatings and much worse that made his life hell at his old school. But at Holminster High, Elliot can be the kind of person who avoids trouble by fitting in. He watches himself carefully every moment and shapes himself to be noticed just enough in the right way. Ironically, his strategy backfires when the Guardians (the secret three who control and terrorize Holminster High) select him as a candidate to be trained for their group.

After school, Elliot finds a friend in outcast Ben, but both boys know they can never acknowledge each other in the halls. When Elliot falls in love with bright, outspoken Louise, he feels he must wear yet another identity for her. Elliot sinks into numb isolation behind his masks when a crucial decision pushes him to take back his self with an act that could cost him dearly. Inventing Elliot is a heartrending, engrossing novel to be pondered and discussed. (Ages 12 and older) <--Patty Campbell> --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-9--Teased by bullies in his old school, Elliot is determined to reinvent himself at his new high school by donning a cool, unflappable exterior. Ironically, the 14-year-old's aloofness earns the interest of an elite group of bullies, known as the Guardians, whose members target school losers for punishment in cruel and ritualistic ways. In this psychological drama, the outwardly congenial Guardian leaders, who are never seen "in the company of actual violence," recruit Elliot using control tactics adopted from their favorite book, George Orwell's 1984. With no way out, he passes the initiation test that requires him to choose a punisher and a victim. Elliot's outward voice alternates with an inner voice written in italics, depicting a battle of sensibilities. Two valuable but tentative friendships disintegrate as Elliot becomes more Guardianlike, and the struggles with his conscience intensify. In an emotion-packed ending, the teen realizes that the strength he had in choosing not to be a victim is the same strength he needs to uncloak the Guardians. Elliot is an appealing protagonist, and his need to fit in will strike a chord with most readers.--Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Orion Childrens; 1St Edition edition (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842552082
• ISBN-13: 978-1842552087
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,344,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: INVENTING ELLIOT, March 31, 2004

By 

Richie Partington "Richie's Picks" (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Inventing Elliot (Hardcover)

"And so I wrestle with the angel
To see who'll reap the seeds I sow
Am I the driver or the driven
Will I be damned to be forgiven
Is there anybody here but me who needs to know"
--Grateful Dead, "Victim or the Crime"

"Survival wasn't that difficult. It simply meant cutting off all the pieces of you that didn't fit. After a while, your new identity became second nature, as if you'd always been like you were now.
"The difficult part was managing and keeping apart all the different people you had to become."

INVENTING ELLIOT is a smart psychological YA thriller set in a private high school in which Elliot, a scarred victim of bullying at his previous schools, is given the chance to start over in a place where nobody knows him, and then finds that his careful efforts at creating himself a new image lead to his being adopted into the heart of the students' secret power structure where he is offered the opportunity to mete out the kind of arbitrary, sadistic punishment to vulnerable classmates that he himself had been subjected to in his previous life. Elliot's constant fear is that any reluctance to play the game will lead to his once again becoming a victim himself.

As most of us can imagine, being in his position means that Elliot will merely be trading one living hell for another. Elliot's deep fears, artfully hidden behind his newly minted veneer, are infectious. I was thoroughly on edge as I followed Elliot page by page.

"When I'm in the shower
I'm afraid to wash my hair
'Cause I might open my eyes
And find someone standing there"
--Rockwell, "Somebody's Watching Me"

Not having read 1984 since well back on the other side of that year, I was intrigued by the prominent role that Orwell's book plays in this story, with two schoolmates presenting their radically contrasting impressions of the book to Elliot. Through those contrasting visions put forth by his characters, the author provides additional fuel for Elliot's internal struggle, as well as tools for the reader to begin considering why the dynamics of bullying exist in schools and possibly why people in the larger society forever crap on each other as if it's an inherent part of being human.

INVENTING ELLIOT asks more questions than it answers. This exceptionally well-crafted tale will grab readers in its ever-tightening snare and leave them wrestling with their own beliefs about power and how it is used.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars unwillingly to school..., July 3, 2004

By A Customer

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This review is from: Inventing Elliot (Hardcover)

What if you found yourself fitting in with your peers to the point where you were singled out and prized for the qualities that helped you do this in the first place? What if you camouflaged your insecurity and fears so well, that you were taken for someone entirely different than who you were or wanted to be? Such is the dilemma of the 14-year-old protagonist of "Inventing Elliott." Formerly bullied at his old school, Elliott becomes first a bystander to the same type of violence at his new school, and then chosen by the leader of a secret society to become one of the behind-the-scenes orchetrators of the bullying. It isn't until this begins to jeopardize his relationship with his first girlfriend, that Elliott stops simply reacting to the events around him and begins to make his own decisions.

What distinguish this book from other similar novels that deal with the impact a powerful secret society has on a school, is the dimension of Elliott's family life. His father is recuperating (poorly) from a mugging, and this gives Elliott's reaction to being bullied a somewhat different angle.

Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inventing Elliot, December 15, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Inventing Elliot (Paperback)

Inventing Elliot by Graham Gardner is a riveting book, although
obvious at times. Elliot Sutton is a 14 year-old boy who's family
has just moved to a new town where he starts in a new school
called Holminster High. Here he meets the Guardians, a group of
students that rule the school; Ben, an intelligent boy that isn't
excepted by other people; and Louise, a nice girl that Elliot falls
in love with. This story is told in Elliot's perspective and can go slow at times, but still keeps you wondering what will happen next.
I thought this book was an emotional book that truly shows how cruel life can be sometimes. Through most of the book, I didn't like Elliot because of some of the choices he made and the way he was always so moody. Graham Gardner has many jobs such as a writer, an academic researcher, and a musician. Inventing Elliot is his first novel and was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award. After reading this book i feel he really understands how Elliot would feel and does a wonderful job of showing it in the book.
I would only recommend this young adult book to sixth graders
and up because it is graphic and violent.