Culture 6

Bibliography
Clements, Andrew. 2002. THINGS NOT SEEN. New York, NY: Philomel Books. ISBN 0399236260.

Plot Summary
In this story we meet Bobby, a fifteen year old teenage boy. He wakes up one day to discover that he is invisible. He is physically still there, but he can not be seen by anyone. He can be felt by others, though. As an invisible person Bobby has to make many adjustments. His parents decide that no one should be told because “they” would turn him into a science experiment. Bobby mostly agrees to this until he meets Alicia. Alicia is a teenage girl around his same age and she is blind. Together with her parents they try to find an answer to what has happened to Bobby.

Critical Analysis
This well written story takes place in Chicago. The setting takes place in Bobby’s home and within several blocks of his home that is walking distance. Besides Bobby’s home we only really go to the library and on one excursion to the outskirts of the city. The two main characters have disabilities. Bobby’s disability turns out to be a temporary disability of invisibility, while Alicia is blind and it is a permanent condition.

The plot revolves around Bobby, and trying to figure out the mystery of his invisibility. In an ironic twist the only person to really “see” Bobby is Alicia who is blind. She truly understands what it is like to be invisible. She feels invisible in her own way since becoming blind. She states that people never really look at her and that they avoid her. She feels invisible. This story has a good plot that keeps the story moving. Not only are they trying to find a reason and a solution to Bobby’s invisibility they are being investigated by Child Protective Services. Since Bobby is not going to school and they are not able to get a doctor’s note they are under investigation.

All the characters are realistic and not stereotypes. Alicia is blind, but even though she is technically handicapped, she is the one person Bobby can rely on for help. She even points this out at one point saying how she is usually the one dependent on others for help. Both main characters experience growth. We don’t always see and hear all that Alicia is feeling, but this is due to the fact that the whole story is told by the character of Bobby. We only know what he knows, and he only knows what Alicia tells him. In the end she writes Bobby a letter that sums up a lot of what she has been feeling. It ends like this “i was almost gone bobby. i was almost all the way disappeared. i couldn’t remember if i was real. i couldn’t see who could love me. i couldn’t see anything there to love. i couldn’t find a reflection. anywhere. i needed a mirror so bad. and that was you bobby. invisible mirror. i see me. i see you. love Alicia.”

This well written and often humorous story would be a good addition to any young adult collection.

Review Excerpts
From Publishers WeeklyThe 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.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 6 & Up--"-I turn on the bathroom light and wipe the fog off the mirror to comb my hair.-I'm not there. That's what I'm saying. I'm. Not. There." Thus starts the adventure of Bobby Phillips, who wakes up one morning to find that somehow he has turned invisible. The 15-year-old and his parents live with the worry of what happens if they can't figure out how to reverse his condition. With a nod in the direction of H. G. Wells's Invisible Man, Clements allows readers to speculate what it would be like to be invisible. As they see Bobby deal with his situation, they also experience his fears of being alone, unable to talk to his friends, or to tell anyone for fear of the consequences. He reaches out to a blind girl, Alicia Van Dorn, and together they begin to fight back as best as they can. The quest for visibility becomes even more frantic when the school officials and the local police decide that Bobby is the victim of foul play. The threat of having his parents thrown in jail for his own murder makes the teen even more desperate to find out what happened to him. Clements's story is full of life; it's poignant, funny, scary, and seemingly all too possible. The author successfully blends reality with fantasy in a tale that keeps his audience in suspense until the very end.Saleena L. Davidson, South Brunswick Public Library, Monmouth Junction, NJ

Connections
Discuss the feeling of being invisible at times.
Discuss the connection the characters feel. How are being blind and being invisible connected?