INVENTING-ELLIOT

1. (Free read ebook) Inventing Elliot Inventing Elliot Graham Gardner *Download PDF | ePub | DOC | audiobook | ebooks #650874 in Books Graham Gardner 2005-06-02 2005-06-02Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.97 x .50 x 4.20l, .29 Binding: Mass Market Paperback192 pagesInventing Elliot | File size: 68.Mb Graham Gardner : Inventing Elliot before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised Inventing Elliot:

2. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. unwillingly to school...By A CustomerWhat 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.5 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Richie's Picks: INVENTING ELLIOTBy N. S."And so I wrestle with the angelTo see who'll reap the seeds I sowAm I the driver or the drivenWill I be damned to be forgivenIs 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 showerI'm afraid to wash my hair'Cause I might open my eyesAnd 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.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Discussion starter for bullyingBy T. FieldsI used this book as a read aloud for eighth graders and it was a good discussion starter on bullying. It might have been better for students to have their own copy because there were many flashbacks and it was hard to follow at times. When fourteen-year-old Elliot Sutton arrives at HolminsterHigh, he's determined not to stand out. He simply can't let himself become a target againnot like he was at his last school. This time, he's a new Elliot. Tough. Impenetrable. But then he meets the Guardians, a group of upperclassmen that secretly rule Holminster with a quiet and anonymous terror. Obsessed with George Orwell's book 1984, they desire power for the sake of powerand they always get what they want. Now, they want Elliot. Not to terrorize . . . but to join them. Can Elliot face his new future, or will he become his own worst nightmare? .com In this stunning first novel, Graham Gardner pays homage to Robert Cormiers 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 doesnt 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) From School Library JournalGrade 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

3. 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.From BooklistGr. 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 DeCandidoCopyright American Library Association. All rights reserved