Bobby Phillips is an average fifteen-year-old-boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can't see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming-Bobby is just plain invisible. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby's new condition; even his dad the physicist can't figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He's a missing person. Then he meets Alicia. She's blind, and Bobby can't resist talking to her, trusting her. But people are starting to wonder where Bobby is. Bobby knows that his invisibility could have dangerous consequences for his family and that time is running out. He has to find out how to be seen again-before it's too late.
Bobby Phillips is an average fifteen-year-old-boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can't see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming-Bobby is just plain invisible. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby's new condition; even his dad the physicist can't figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He's a missing person. Then he meets Alicia. She's blind, and Bobby can't resist talking to her, trusting her. But people are starting to wonder where Bobby is. Bobby knows that his invisibility could have dangerous consequences for his family and that time is running out. He has to find out how to be seen again-before it's too late.
Reviews-
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March 8, 2004
A 15-year-old boy discovers that he has turned invisible overnight and becomes determined to take control of the situation and of his own destiny. "As preposterous as the teen's predicament may be, the author spins a convincing and affecting story," according to PW
. Ages 10-up. -
January 28, 2002
The earnest and likable 15-year-old narrator is the principal thing not seen in Clements's (Frindle; The Jacket) fast-paced novel, set in Chicago. As the book opens, the boy discovers that he has turned invisible overnight. Bobby breaks the news to his parents who, afraid of being hounded by the media, instruct him to share his dilemma with no one. But when Bobby ventures out of the house and visits the library, he meets Alicia, a blind girl to whom he confides his secret. Their blossoming friendship injects a double meaning into the book's title. As preposterous as the teen's predicament may be, the author spins a convincing and affecting story, giving Bobby's feeling of helplessness and his frustration with his parents an achingly real edge. As his physicist father struggles to find a scientific explanation for and a solution to his son's condition, husband and wife decide that they will tell the investigating truancy officials and police that Bobby has run away. Bobby, however, becomes increasingly determined to take control of the situation—and of his own destiny: "And I want to yell, It's my life! You can't leave me out of the decisions about my own life! You are not in charge here!" Equally credible is the boy's deepening connection to Alicia, who helps Bobby figure out a solution to his problem. Ages 10-14. - -Kirkus Reviews "A readable, thought-provoking tour de force, alive with stimulating ideas, hard choices, and young people discovering bright possibilities ahead. "
