Parents' Guide to Invisible Son

As INVISIBLE SON begins, Andre Jackson has just been released after two months in juvenile detention for a theft he didn't commit. He'll be wearing an ankle monitor to track his movements and has to be available at all times for calls or visits from his probation officer. His Portland, Oregon, neighborhood has been transformed by gentrification, and Andre increasingly feels like he no longer belongs in a neighborhood that's become an "unwelcoming white space." Among his newer White neighbors are the Whitaker family, who live across the street. The book explains their history, telling how Andre becomes good friends with their adopted Black son, Eric, and has a longstanding crush on Sierra, Eric's sister. He becomes Eric and Sierra's guide to navigating Blackness in Portland, and the Whitakers often include him on their family trips. So when Andre is questioned about a theft at a White classmate's party, he does his best to cover up for Eric, who's one of the actual thieves. But things go terribly wrong when a backpack with stolen goods is found in Andre's work locker. Andre feels he has no choice but to take a deal that will keep him out of prison and protect Eric. When Andre returns home and goes to confront Eric, he discovers that his friend (according to the Whitakers) has run away, which neither Andre nor Sierra believes. Then COVID arrives. Some of the people closest to Andre fall ill, classes for his senior year go remote, and then the George Floyd murder prompts Black Lives Matter protests. As Andre continues to try to clear his name, he discovers that the Whitakers have some dark, dark secrets.