Synopsis
Elliot, a victim of bullying, invents a calmer, cooler self when he changes schools in the middle of freshman year, but soon attracts the wrong kind of attention from the Guardians who "maintain order" at the new school.
Reviews
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
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Gr. 5-9. A chilling and heartbreaking study of bullying and adolescent terror. Elliot knows that even moving to a new high school is not going to keep him safe: pale, slight, and quiet, he was a magnet for the bullies at his old school. At Holminster, a sinister and very organized gang called the Guardians recruits him, not as victim, but as aggressor, taking their motto, "The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power," from Orwell's 1984. Elliot twists and turns, trying to find just the right masks to hide behind, for the Guardians, for his beleaguered parents, for the girl, Louise, whose radiance is the only color in his pinched life. Elliot can find no way out for himself until the very end, when readers will tremble with him as he finally heeds his mother's loving and fierce counsel and knocks on the principal's door. GraceAnne DeCandido
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