41 pages • 1 hour read
David WalliamsGangsta Granny
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Everything”
Granny tells Ben that she began stealing when she was his age. Granny’s family was poor and often hungry. One night she decided to try to steal some food from her wealthy neighbors. She walked up to the grand house where Lord and Lady Davenport lived. She snuck into the house through an open window but was terrified to discover that she was in their bedroom, where they lay sleeping. Granny took the diamond ring from the bedside table and snuck out again. Lord Davenport woke up and fired his shotgun at her several times. Ben listens to the story with rapt attention, but Granny insists that he should go home and that she will tell him more later.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Cheesy Beans and Sausage”
Ben races home on his bike. When he gets there, his mother questions why he is so sweaty. In a panic to hide his secret meeting with Granny, Ben lies and says that he now loves ballroom dancing and was practicing his dance moves. His mother asks him if he has changed his mind about being a plumber and aspires to be a ballroom dancer, and Ben says yes. Mum and Dad say it is the best day of their lives and are thrilled to imagine him as a professional ballroom dancer, winning championships and being on TV. Mum and Dad discuss Ben’s first steps and settle on entering him into a local junior dance competition. Ben is horrified but does not know what to do.
Chapter 12 Summary: “The Love Bomb”
Ben’s Mum excitedly sketches out different designs for his dance outfit. Ben picks the least offensive one, a suit with hearts on it. He escapes to his room by saying that he needs to practice his dance moves, then climbs out his window and races to Granny’s house.
When he arrives at her house, Ben asks her to continue her story about stealing from Lord and Lady Davenport. Granny remembers how Lord Davenport and his employees rode out to chase her through the woods, but she escaped across the stream and climbed an oak tree. To hide the ring, she swallowed it, carefully saving it later. Granny admits that, although it was scary, she felt the thrill of the heist, and it was the beginning of her “lifetime of crime” (116).
Chapter 13 Summary: “A Lifetime of Crime”
Granny regales Ben with exciting tales from her life as a thief, such as stealing a tiara from the First Lady of the US and traveling to Russia to steal a sapphire brooch. Granny’s adventures amaze Ben, and he loves listening to her stories, especially since his parents never tell him any interesting stories or read to him. Granny’s tales are interrupted when she notices a man peering through the window at them.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Nosy Neighbor”
Granny and Ben discuss who the strange man could be; Granny guesses it is her intrusive neighbor, Mr. Parker, who is always spying on her. Mr. Parker is a retired major and leads the Neighborhood Watch group. When Ben hears the doorbell ring, he jumps in a panic and tells his grandma to hide all the stolen jewels.
When he answers the door, Mr. Parker is there and angrily demands to know who Ben is. Mr. Parker barges into the house, and Ben tries to stop him from going into the living room. When Mr. Parker opens the living room door, the jewels are gone, and Granny is doing yoga. Mr. Parker demands to know where the jewels are, and Granny accuses him of spying and threatens to report him. Mr. Parker leaves in a huff. Relieved, Granny and Ben decide to hide the tin of jewels under the floorboards.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Reckless and Thrilling”
Chapter 16 Summary: “‘N’ ‘O’ Spells No”
Granny refuses to consider the idea of stealing the Crown Jewels with Ben and insists that he go home. Disappointed, Ben returns home, where his parents grill him about his dance rehearsals. He lies and says it is going well.
When flipping through his plumbing magazine, Ben comes across a history of London’s plumbing system and notices a chart for the Tower of London’s sewer pipes. Ben wonders if the pipes could provide an access point to the Tower for him and Granny to steal the Crown Jewels.
His mother interrupts his thoughts when she bursts into the room with his new outfit for the dance competition, and Ben guiltily hides his Plumbing Weekly magazine.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Planning the Heist”
Ben cannot wait to see Granny again. He is confident that he can convince her to steal the Crown Jewels with him using the Tower’s plumbing system. In school, he tries his best in all his classes, using the opportunity to research the Crown Jewels and the Tower of London. Ben knows that no one would suspect a young boy and a grandma of being jewel thieves and fantasizes about getting away with this outrageous crime.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Visiting Hours”
On Friday night, Ben’s parents reveal that he cannot go to Granny’s house as she is in the hospital. They go to visit her, and seeing her looking so weak saddens Ben. Granny explains that she had a bad fall in the kitchen, and the ambulance came to pick her up. Ben’s Mum and Dad do not stay with Granny for long, and though Ben wants to talk to her, they soon take him away. When Ben gets home, he is even more determined to plan the jewel heist and begins working through his ideas.
Chapters 10-18 Analysis
These passages deepen the story’s theme of Overcoming Generational Differences. Ben and Granny differ in many ways, but Granny’s storytelling begins to bring them closer together in these chapters. Because of their ages, Ben is shocked at the idea of her being anything except his older relative: “Ben couldn’t imagine what Granny had been like young. He had only known her as an old lady. He even imagined she had been born an old lady” (84-85). Granny’s childhood story about her first theft forces Ben to open his mind about what she was like when she was his age. By paying rapt attention to her outlandish, exciting tales of theft, Ben begins to understand Granny’s past as a girl and young woman, and the stereotype of an “old lady” can be overcome. He can have fun with Granny and see her as an interesting companion rather than a boring parental figure. Their shared fascination with heists instantly boosts Ben’s mood, and “for the first time in his life Ben couldn’t wait to spend time with Granny” (155). Not only does this bring them closer together but it also allows Ben the opportunity to focus on plumbing. His parents don’t value his interest in plumbing, but he is beginning to realize that Granny might, as it could offer a solution to the problem of how to steal the Crown Jewels.
However, Ben’s eagerness to hear Granny’s tales of adventure also reveals his naivety. Even when Granny’s stories become highly unrealistic, Ben still believes that they are true: “His Granny, in deepest, darkest Russia, flying through the air in an ancient suit of armour. It was hard to believe, but how else could this little old lady come to have such an astonishing collection of priceless gems?” (122). Nonetheless, his desire to believe her stories shows the level of interest he now has in her. This change adds depth and nuance to Ben’s character, as he becomes more sensitive to Granny’s needs. For instance, when Granny is hospitalized after her fall, Ben is more interested in visiting her than his parents are. By being more aware of her past and recognizing her complexity as a person, he can bond with her in a way her son and daughter-in-law can’t.
These passages also develop the story’s theme of Navigating Family Relationships, as Ben copes with the parental pressure to perform at a ballroom dancing competition. Since Ben’s parents don’t allow him to leave the house by himself, he feels he must hide his frequent bike visits to Granny with a lie that will please his parents. When this backfires, Ben’s relationship with Mum and Dad becomes even more troubled, as he must conceal his real interests—and his adventures with Granny. Dad and Mum are elated at the idea of Ben being a dancer: “‘Crack open the sparkling wine, wife! Our son is going to be a cha-cha-cha-champion!’ A naughty word exploded in Ben’s head. How on earth was he going to get out of this?!” (99). By contrasting Dad’s celebratory mood with Ben’s agitated one, the author shows how Ben and his parents are living in different realities. This contrast creates tension in the story and foreshadows more troubles to come as Ben becomes more entrenched in his lies.
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