Inventing Elliot

Gardner, Graham

ISBN 10: 1842552635 / ISBN 13: 9781842552636

Published by Orion, 2003

About this Item

First UK Edition, First Printing. Not price-clipped (£7.99 price intact). Published by Orion, 2003. Octavo. Green cloth boards stamped in silver. Signed by author on title page. Book is like new; clean with no writing or names. Sharp corners and spine straight. Binding tight and pages crisp. Dust jacket is like new. A lovely copy of the author's debut novel. 183 pages. ISBN: 9781842552636. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Southampton, New York. We Buy Books! Individual titles, libraries, collections. Message us if you have books to sell! Seller Inventory # 111659

Bibliographic Details

Title: Inventing Elliot

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 2003

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Like New

Dust Jacket Condition: Like New

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Elliot was beaten up by bullies at his old school. He is determined to reinvent himself at the new school. This time he will be so cool that no one will touch him. But he is too successful. He is taken up by the Guardians, the mysterious group who control the whole school, manipulating others to create a reign of terror. He is invited to become a Guardian himself and goes along with it. He is not going to get hurt again, whatever it takes. Until he realizes that he is as good as dead unless he takes the risk of standing up for himself. Written with great power and economy, this psychological novel was inspired by George Orwell's 1984 and is reminiscent of those two great children's writers Robert Cormier and Robert Westall. It has strong characters, strong moral dilemmas and a story that moves at a great pace to a highly dramatic ending. It is an incisive and compelling look at the terrors and rituals of adolescence and you're there with Elliot every step of the way.

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>