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 19-27Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 19 Summary: “A Small Explosive Device”
Ben visits Granny in the hospital on his own. He notices that the doctor seems to have bad news and that Granny seems upset; however, she assures him that she is healthy. Ben reveals his elaborate plan to steal the Crown Jewels, explaining that Granny will offer the guards some chocolate cake with a sleeping pill in it so they fall asleep. They’ll swim up the River Thames and into the pipes, walk across the courtyard, and use a small explosive to blast through the locks of the Jewel House and access the jewels.
Granny compliments Ben’s excellent planning and encourages him to pursue his dream of being a plumber. She agrees to do the heist with him on the condition that they return the jewels the following evening.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Boom Boom Boom”
Granny insists that they will be caught if they keep the jewels and tells Ben that they must return them. He agrees that, like all of Granny’s other thefts, they will do it just for the thrill. Granny tells him that they will do the robbery the following Friday.
When Ben leaves Granny’s hospital room, he sees Mr. Parker, the nosy neighbor. Ben and Granny complain about him, and the nurse swiftly kicks him out. Ben tells Granny he loves her and leaves to go home, feeling exhilarated at the thought of their plan. When Ben is outside the hospital, he notices Granny escaping her room by abseiling down the side of the building using her bedsheets. Granny claims that the elevator was not working and races home on her motorized wheelchair.
The next Friday evening, Ben tells his parents that they can take their time picking him up from Granny’s the next morning. His parents remind him that they won’t be taking him to Granny’s since that evening is his Dancing Championships competition, which Ben had completely forgotten about.
Chapter 21 Summary: A Tap-Shoe”
A dejected Ben makes his way to the dance competition, knowing that he will perform terribly as he hasn’t rehearsed at all. Flavio Flavioli, his mother’s favorite famous ballroom dancer, introduces the contestants, and finally it is Ben’s turn. Ben spends the next five minutes improvising a terrible dance, before falling at the end. Only his parents applaud him, and he receives a total of 0 points from the judges.
Despite Ben’s terrible score, he is the only single male contestant, so he wins the prize for best solo male performance. The angry crowd boos and jeers. Someone throws a shoe and hits Flavio Flavioli in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Chapter 22 Summary: “Lycra Lynch Mob”
Ben’s parents speed away with him in the car while an angry mob chases them down the street. His parents agree that his performance was horrible and humiliating. They scold him for not rehearsing, making Ben feel guilty. He is sad that he and Granny’s plans have been ruined.
After Ben gets home, he is surprised when Granny knocks on his window wearing her scuba diving outfit. Granny tells him that even though they are hours behind schedule, they must get on with their plan. Ben boards her motorized wheelchair, and they leave for London.
Chapter 23 Summary: “Caught by the Fuzz”
Granny and Ben ride the wheelchair going three miles per hour along the side of a busy highway. They yell with fright as huge trucks whizz past them. Ben is terrified when a police officer pulls them over for riding a motorized wheelchair on the side of a highway. He questions why they wear wetsuits with a cling-film-wrapped purse, and they lie and tell him they are members of the Clingfilm Appreciation Society. The bewildered officer offers them a ride to London.
Chapter 24 Summary: “Dark Waters”
The police officer drops off Granny and Ben outside the Tower of London. Ben thinks about the numerous prisoners who have been held in the tower over the years. Granny and Ben hold hands and jump into the River Thames. They swim in the dark across the river until they reach Traitors’ Gate. Ben is scared to swim up the pipe, but Granny encourages him. The two enter inside, and Ben is horrified to feel a huge rat climbing on his head.
Chapter 25 Summary: “Haunted by Ghosts”
Ben and Granny shoo away the rat, and the two crawl up the pipe and into the Tower’s washroom. They crawl out a window until they are in the Tower’s courtyard. The two sneak past the guards, who are still asleep from Granny’s baking. Granny uses the power drill to open the door, then takes a break for some cabbage soup. They open the door to Jewel House and are startled by black ravens flying out at them. Ben is scared about the Tower’s spookiness, but Granny urges them on.
Chapter 26 Summary: “A Figure in the Dark”
Ben and Granny tiptoe in the Jewel House in their dripping wetsuits. Ben is amazed by the beautiful, priceless jewels. Ben arranges his explosives around the jewels’ protective case, but he can’t get them to ignite. Ben feels useless, but Granny insists that he is smart and talented. She says they will break the case with her usual method, throwing a tin of cabbage soup at it. Ben gets ready to throw it when they hear a noise and realize that the Queen is there.
Chapter 27 Summary: “An Audience with the Queen”
The Queen, who is wearing her coronation crown, reveals that she goes to the Tower when she has trouble sleeping. She questions why Ben and Granny are there—and why they smell like poo. Ben and Granny are very embarrassed. Granny takes the blame, telling the Queen that it is all her fault; she had started it when she lied to Ben and told him that she was a jewel thief, showing him fake jewels and telling him made-up stories. Ben is shocked and angry to learn that Granny lied to him. She assures him that she only wanted him to like her and to enjoy spending time with her.
Chapters 9-27 Analysis
The disagreements between Ben and his parents intensify in this section, as he is forced to interrupt his heist plans with Granny and participate in the ballroom dancing championships. By showing how Ben and his parents continue to operate with different goals and struggle to communicate honestly with each other, the author develops his theme of Navigating Family Relationships. For instance, Ben’s focus on planning his secret adventure with Granny completely contrasts with Dad and Mum’s excitement for his dance performance, which he has forgotten all about. Predictably, Ben’s performance goes very poorly. This disappoints both of his parents, who scold him for his terrible performance. Ben’s reaction highlights how troubled his relationship with his parents has become, while also emphasizing the unexpectedly strong bond he is building with Granny. When he returns from the dance competition and worries he has missed the heist, Ben thinks, “Not only had he let down his mum and Dad, he had let down the one person he had grown to love more than anyone, his Granny” (203). This shows how his appreciation for Granny and her validation of his interests has helped him feel less lonely and created a deeper bond between them.
Ben and Granny’s burgeoning relationship ties in with the story’s theme of Deepening Relationships with Curiosity and Discovery. Both Ben and Granny must leave their routines and comfort zones to connect and spend time together. Ben’s willingness to disobey his parents and sneak out of his house to visit Granny speaks to his keen interest in spending time with her, and his desire to believe her stories and emulate her behavior suggests that she has become a role model to him. Similarly, Granny must push herself to leave the safety of her routine at home and embrace a life of adventure to become closer to her grandson. She puts great effort into her relationship with Ben, concocting wild stories for him and sneaking out of the hospital to work on their heist plan. She even fetches him from home on her motorized wheelchair on the night of the big heist, just when Ben thinks all is lost.
Although Ben’s heist plan is outlandish and dangerous, Granny agrees to every part of it. By showing how Granny and Ben face danger and uncertainty together, the author highlights the immense trust between them. This trust is undermined when Granny reveals to Ben and the Queen that she has been lying about her past all along, just as it will later be revealed that she lied about the state of her health. This mirrors Ben’s lies to his parents, as they were equally disappointed to learn he had no interest in their favorite thing, ballroom dancing. However, unlike Ben lying to hide his activities, Granny’s fib disguised the fact that she only wanted to spend time with Ben. While the text suggests that she went about it the wrong way, she made great efforts to overcome her difference with Ben and ensure that they both enjoyed their time together.
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