Elliot Sutton is a victim of violent bullying at his school, until he is beaten so badly his mother moves them to the other side of the city. He is enrolled in Holminster High for a new start as a freshman, and his goal is not to be noticed. He doesn't want to stand out for any reason. He almost succeeds by reinventing himself as someone who doesn't react and doesn't care. However, he does befriend (privately) one of the victims, Ben, who shares Elliot's love of swimming and whose passion is film photography. Elliot also starts to like Louise, who shares his interest in reading and is passionate about ideas. At the same time, Elliot is noticed by the Guardians, the group in charge of organizing "punishments" and selecting punishers and victims, and he is recruited to be one of them (they are juniors). He feels he has no choice but to go along, and he is stresssed by the need to wear so many different Elliot masks that he's not sure who the real Elliot is any longer. With problems at home (a useless almost non-existent father, and a long-suffering over-worked mother) Elliot doesn't feel he can find any support there - and even if he could, doesn't believe it would help. However, his mother surprises him, helping Elliot to make a difficult decision. This is not an enjoyable book. It reminds me of Lord of the flies and The Chocolate War, books with a dark view of a natural desire for violence and power. It is, however, a good book, and many middle school students have liked it.

Inventing Elliot was on of the most interesting books I ever read. It is an exiting book that anyone who is in school can relate to. It is about a boy who is starting at a new school. At school he is notice by a group called the Guardians. The Guardians rule the school from behind the scenes, and only a select few know who these Guardians are. They want him to be a successor to the current Guardians who are graduating. Elliot is a very shy person that used to be a big victim at his old school. He only seeks to be a normal person in his new school. With the Guardians wanting him to join them it makes it hard for him to be normal. The Guardians punish people just because they might do something they didn't like. Also Elliot's Father is sick, has no job and never leaves the couch. With his father lacking a job it is very hard for his family to get by. In the end Elliot reports the Guardians punishments to the principal.

British boys' school story, with the heads-in-toilets caste system of other British boys' school stories (and with echoes of the Chocolate War) but unique and vivid and well done. (It's not actually a boys' school - a ways into the book we learn that there are girls at the school, too - and it may not even be British, but it really feels that way.) It's about a boy who tries to reinvent himself at a new school and is far more successful than he'd planned. I liked it, and him. Interesting, thoughtful, well-written. Ideal for young teens.

This is a good book if you want a dark view of high school politics. It recreates some of the themes in 1984. I skipped some chapters because the book is too dark for my liking, but it doesn't swear or say anything vulgar. Not a book I'd recommend-- however I did have to talk to James about it because it made me think.