The Inheritance Games

The Inheritance Games

• Genre: Fiction; young adult mystery/thriller
• Originally Published: 2020
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 640L; grades 7-12
• Structure/Length: 91 chapters plus epilogue; approx. 372 pages; approx. 10 hours, 45 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Teen Avery Grambs unexpectedly and inexplicably inherits billions from a philanthropist she never knew. To collect the money, she must live in the dead man’s mansion for a year with his four grandsons (who fully expected to be left the fortune) while trying to determine the logic behind her sudden windfall.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Teen drinking and unsafe behavior; a character in a physically abusive relationship; profanity

Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Author

• Bio: American writer of young adult novels and TV pilots; born in Tulsa, Oklahoma; attended Yale University for undergraduate studies and a Ph.D. (2012) in cognitive science; a Fulbright scholar at Cambridge; first published at age 19; currently teaches in both the Psychology and the Professional Writing departments at the University of Oklahoma
• Other Works: The Naturals (2013); Killer Instinct (2014); The Fixer (2015); The Long Game (2016); The Hawthorne Legacy (2021); The Final Gambit (2022)
• Awards: New York Public Library Best Book for Teens; Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Manmade Construct of Class Differences
• The Danger of Secrecy
• The Power of the Absent Character

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the social and cultural contexts regarding wealth that drive Avery’s conflict.
• Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Manmade Construct of Class Differences, The Danger of Secrecy, and The Power of the Absent Character.
• Plan and construct puzzles that convey character traits based on details from the novel.
• Analyze and evaluate the plot and character details to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding social classes, the absent character, and other topics.