55 pages • 1 hour read
Inventing Elliot
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Inventing Elliot, by British author Graham Gardner, is set in England in a fictional high school, Holminster High. First published in 2003, Inventing Elliot is Gardner’s debut novel. He was inspired by The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, a realistic book about a boy going against the system in a private Catholic school, and George Orwell’s book 1984, a dystopian social science fiction novel that explores the horror of violence and totalitarianism. Garner was also motivated to write Inventing Elliot because of his own experience of being bullied at school.
Inventing Elliot has been translated into 10 languages, and was short-listed for multiple awards, including the United Kingdom’s Branford Boase Award and the Angus Book Award. It was also nominated for the American Library Association’s Best Young Adult Book Award 2004, the Nutmeg Prize, and the Heartland Award. In 2005, Inventing Elliot won the prestigious German Youth Jury Award.
Plot Summary
A fresh start in a new house, new school and new town is what 14-year-old Elliot Sutton’s mother hopes will be the panacea to their depressing situation. Elliot and his parents used to be a happy family, but everything collapsed three years ago, when Elliot’s father was attacked and left with a severe brain injury.
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