Common Sense Note
A borderline-fantasy take on a real problem -- young adolescents who feel invisible, unnoticed. How much of our self-image comes from the image others have of us? How can someone go through life unnoticed? It's been a theme from Eliot's Prufrock to Simon's "Most Peculiar Man."
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
Neal Shusterman has a unique imagination, which can make his books hard to describe. This one skirts the edge of fantasy, sometimes perhaps sticking a toe over the line. The form is a sort-of legend, reminiscent of Maniac Magee, but the voice is a not-totally-consistent but often wicked Brooklyn smart-alec. The combination is fluidly readable, unpredictable, and poignantly funny.
The chapter titles alone give a pretty good idea of the mood of the book: "Manny Bullpucky Gets his Sorry Butt Hurled off the Marine Park Bridge," "Which is Worse: Getting Mauled by a Pack of Dogs or Getting Your Brains Bashed out by a Steel Poker?" and so on. But there's also a lot to think about and talk about here, most notably the whole Schwa Effect -- it may be a comic exaggeration, but it's all too real for many tweens.
From the Book:
I don't really remember when I first met the Schwa, he was just kind of always there, like the killer pot-holes on Avenue U, or the afghans barking out the windows above Crawley's restaurant -- a whole truck load of 'em, if you believed the rumors. Old Man Crawley, by the way, was a certifiable loony-tune. A shut in, like Brooklyn's own Howard Hughes, almost as legendary as the lobsters served up in his restaurant below. See, there was this staircase that went up from the restaurant to the residence on the second floor, but with each step it got darker around you, so when you tried to climb it, you kept thinking you heard the horror audience behind you yelling, "No, don't go up the stairs!" Because who but a moron would go up to search for Old Man Crawley, who had fingernails like Ginsu knives that could dice, slice, and julienne you, then serve you up in like fourteen-thousand plastic dog bowls.
Plot Summary:
Calvin Schwa is one of those kids who doesn't get noticed, even when he's standing in the middle of the boy's bathroom singing "God Bless America" while wearing an orange sombrero and a cat costume. When Antsy Bonano does finally notice him, the decide to test the "Schwa Effect," then to make some money from it. They go one dare too far, however, and end up doing penance to a crabby, rich old man with a beautiful blind granddaughter.
Fun aside, though, not being noticed can be tough, especially for the Schwa, whose mother disappeared when he was five and whose father seems to be out in space most of the time. As Antsy learns more about the Schwa's miserable life, he's determined to be the one who notices. But the Schwa has something more dramatic in mind.
Related Books:
Other Books by Neal Shusterman
The Eyes of Kid Midas
The Shadow Club
Speeding Bullet
What Daddy Did
Darkness Creeping II:More Tales to Trouble Your Sleep
Mindquakes: Stories to Shatter Your Brain
MindTwisters: Stories to Shred Your Head
The Dark Side of Nowhere
Mindstorms: Stories to Blow Your Mind
Full Tilt
Books with Similar Themes
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The Woman in the Wall by Patrice Kindl
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Sexual ContentA kiss, some mild innuendo. |
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LanguageA few mildly off-color words. |
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Social BehaviorA major character refers to an Italian as a "guinea." Lots of sneaking out at night, going to dangerous neighborhoods. The adults are mostly pretty clueless. |
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