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The outsmarters Cover Image Book Book

The outsmarters / Deborah Ellis.

Ellis, Deborah, 1960- (Author).

Summary:

"Eleven-year-old Kate lives with her grandmother, who runs a junk shop in a big old house on the outskirts of town. It sometimes feels sad to be in the business of collecting other people's leftover stuff, but Kate knows sad. She's a bit lonely, and she doesn't remember her mother, who left long ago. Still, Kate dreams that one day her mother will return, and when she does, she'll need money. So Kate sets out to make some, just in case. At first she wants to offer psychiatric advice, like Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon. Gran squashes that idea: "You are not a psychiatrist. You'll just get sued." But what about a philosopher, who Gran says is just someone who thinks deeply about important things. "I do that all the time," Kate says, and soon she opens up a Philosophy Booth to provide answers to life's big and small questions for $2 a pop. But who can answer Kate's questions? Where does her grandmother go in her truck at night? And why won't she talk about Kate's mother? These are hard questions to answer, and Kate gets help from two kids who come into her life. Myndeelee, who moves into the house behind Gran's, and Brandon, who Gran seems to hate, though Kate can't figure out why."-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781773068572 (hardcover)
  • Physical Description: 245 pages ; 20 cm
  • Publisher: Toronto : Groundwood Books, 2024.

Search for related items by subject

Subject: Families > Juvenile fiction.
Grandmothers > Juvenile fiction.
Friendship > Juvenile fiction.
Survival > Juvenile fiction.
Self-reliance in children > Juvenile fiction.

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Stroud Branch J FIC Ellis 31681030047294 JFIC Available -
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  • Perseus Publishing

    What can you do when the adult world lets you down?

    Suspended from school and prone to rages, twelve-year-old Kate finds her own way to get on with her life, despite the messed-up adults around her. Her gran, for one, is stubborn and aloof — not unlike Kate herself, who has no friends, and who’s been expelled for “behavioral issues,” like the meltdowns she has had ever since her mom dumped her with her grandmother three years ago. Kate dreams that one day her mother will return for her. When that happens, they’ll need money, so Kate sets out to make some.

    Gran nixes her idea to sell psychiatric advice like Lucy in Peanuts (“You’re not a psychiatrist. You’ll get sued.”), so Kate decides to open a philosophy booth to provide answers to life’s big and small questions. She soon learns that adults have plenty of problems and secrets of their own, including Gran. When she finds that her grandmother has been lying to her about her mother, the two have a huge fight, and Gran says she can’t wait for Kate to finish high school so she’ll be rid of her at last. Kate decides to take matters into her own hands and discovers that to get what she wants, she may have to reach out to some unexpected people, and find a way to lay down her own anger.

    Key Text Features


    quotations

    dialogue

    literary references

    signs


    Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

    CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2
    Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

    CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.5
    Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.

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