Common Sense Media Review
Invisibility isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 6 parent reviews
Based on 52 kid reviews
Kids say this book is engaging and entertaining, appealing to tweens and teens with its unique storyline about a boy named Bobby who becomes invisible. Readers appreciate its humor, character development, and positive messages about friendship and overcoming challenges, despite some concerns about nudity and mild language.
- humor
- character development
- positive messages
- engaging storyline
- suitable for tweens
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
Bobby is frustrated by his parents, like most teens, and feels invisible in school. But when he wakes up one morning he discovers he really is invisible. Unlike most kids in books, the first thing Bobby does is tell his parents, and he quickly discovers being invisible isn't as much fun as you might think. Bobby becomes a prisoner in his own house -- in midwinter Chicago going around without clothes isn't too much fun, and clothes walking around without a person inside them draws unwanted attention.
Things get even more difficult when his parents are in a car accident and hospitalized for several days, leaving Bobby on his own. But in this day and age a boy can't just disappear without first his school and then Child Protection and the police getting involved, suspecting that he has been the victim of foul play. So Bobby must find a way to become visible again before his parents are arrested.
Is It Any Good?
Fans who have graduated from Andrew Clements' earlier books will find he hasn't lost his talent for a gripping story. And lest anyone accuse him of falling into a rut with his middle-grade school stories, Clements (author of Frindle, among others) has written a YA novel with a science-fiction twist that has little to do with school. Clements pursues his premise logically. What would the real-life consequences be in this unreal situation?
Unlike other invisibility stories, Bobby neither enjoys his predicament, nor does he use it for any questionable purposes. He just wants his life, such as it was, back. This doesn't have the joyous, grinning-all-the-way-through, everything-happens-as-it-should feeling of his middle-grade books, but it's engaging and offers a satisfying ending.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Bobby's invisibility, which at first glance seems like it would be a great thing, turns out to be a real problem.
How would you deal with being invisible?
What kinds of things would you do if you knew nobody could see you?
Have you ever felt "invisible," figuratively speaking? If so, why? And what did you do about it?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Science Fiction
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Penguin Group
- Publication date : April 3, 2005
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 10 - 14
- Number of pages : 251
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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