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: