Parents' Guide to

Things Not Seen

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Invisibility isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Book Andrew Clements Science Fiction 2005
Things Not Seen Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 6 parent reviews

mateo immer
mateo immer Adult
December 4, 2011
age 7+

Things not seen is a perfect book.

it's a very good book about a kid that turns invisible one night and he finds a friend called alicia , they figure out the problem together and alicia is blind. It's a very nice book for everyone older than five.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Midlight
Midlight Adult
August 20, 2011
age 12+

Amazing

Amazing book, read it three times now, at 10, 12, and now 17. The ending still makes me sad. Fanominal book, reccomend it to anyone and everyone.
See all 6 parent reviews

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?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (54 ):

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

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