Module 15: Most Popular Authors-- Andrew Clements

Clements, Andrew. Things Not Seen. New York: Puffin, 2006.

Summary: 15-year-old Bobby wakes up one morning and finds he has been rendered invisible overnight. His parents urge him to tell no one as they fear he will become a science or government experiment. Bobby tires of waiting for his physicist father to determine what has caused his invisibility, and he ventures to the Chicago Public Library, where he befriends newly blind, Alicia. Truancy officials are soon concerned about Bobby's disappearance from school, and Bobby's parents are soon in legal trouble. Bobby searches for others who might have become invisible, and with Alicia's help, they unearth the cause of his invisibility.

Impressions: Despite the seemingly implausible plot, Clements somehow manages to weave a believable story with real and likable characters. Bobby's character is fully developed, and enables the reader to imagine what would happen to them if they woke up invisible one day. From Bobby's having to run around naked (and cold) to avoid being seen, to his being uncomfortable around Alicia's family in his birthday suit, readers are able to put themselves in Bobby's shoes. Further deepening the characters, we learn that Alicia was formerly popular, but now feels invisible as a blind girl. Bobby likewise tries to convince Alicia that he would have been invisible to her if she still had her sight. A thought provoking and enjoyable novel which has two further sequels/companion novels. 

Reviews:

School Library Journal: 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.

Voice of Youth Advocate: Written in a more serious tone than Clements's popular Frindle (Simon & Schuster, 1996), this novel will prove thought-provoking as it asks the reader to consider all the "things not seen."

Kirkus Review:  As always, Clements's genius for developing credible plot lines (even from oddball premises) makes suspension of disbelief no problem. His characters, each one fundamentally decent-there is never a chance that Bobby will go the way of the transparent voyeur in Cormier's Fade (1988), for instance-are easy to like. A readable, thought-provoking tour de force, alive with stimulating ideas, hard choices, and young people discovering bright possibilities ahead.