Invisibility

Invisibility is often violent and disturbing. Supernatural curses cause powerless people to self-inflict pain and injury: A man sets fire to himself, a woman tries to claw her own face off, and a man pushes himself back and forth through broken glass. There's also the stabbing murder of a one-eyed man. And a teen girl bleeds profusely when she tries to stop a curse from hurting her loved ones. Before the book plot begins, a male teen was brutally beaten by bullies and had to be hospitalized with broken bones and other injuries.

A teen couple kisses and touches each other, but nothing sexual is described graphically-- it's all mentioned afterward. In fact, the male character says that he and his girlfriend do not "have sex" because they need to know each other more deeply first. But the girl and her teen brother joke about "going to third base" or "mating."

Parents need to know that Invisibility is a fantastical story about the special relationship between an invisible teen boy, Stephen, and Elizabeth, the only person who can see him. Also important in the novel is Elizabeth's brother, Laurie, who was bullied and brutally beaten due to his sexual orientation. The plot involves supernatural curses and a fantastical struggle between good and evil, but underlying all that is a lot of tenderness between young people who crave love and a sense of belonging. Young readers may be disturbed by the cruelty toward Laurie (which happens before the book plot starts) and by the evil and violence (including self-inflicted wounds, fire, murder, and some blood) that pervades the latter third of the book.