Hautman, P. (2005). Invisible. New York, NY. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division.
In this dark modern realistic fiction, Doug Hanson deals with the loss of his best friend by escaping reality. He builds an elaborate model train track and miniature town in his basement. He also talks to his deceased best friend, Andy, about everything. Slowly the story of Andy's death is revealed and a series of disturbing events leads Doug farther into the mental unknown.
The age range for this book is 12 and up. Similar books that I would recommend to follow up after reading Invisible are Rules by Cynthia Lord, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Marc Haddon and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. These books have similar themes, characters and points of view. Themes of being an outcast because of their mental or physical disability and dealing with death are common among these books.
A Language Arts or English teacher might find this book valuable to teach point of view to students. We see a story unfold from the point of view of someone who is mentally disturbed but does not really think of himself as such.
This book deals with modern issues of violence, grief, dealing with traumatic events, death and mental illness. These issues are serious but many of them are very real for today's young adult. Hautman's story draws us in as we read about a teenage boy who seems just introverted but later reveals the very disturbing thoughts, actions, and conversations that he has as a result of loosing his best friend in such a tragic way. Young adults are drawn to the very real issues that Hautman creates along with an intriguing plot and straightforward writing. The book will leave you a little bit disturbed yourself.
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