The Schwa Was Here

I just started reading "The Schwa Was Here" by Neal Shusterman. It’s the first book to break my Jodi Picoult cycle and it is a very different type of book. It's about a boy that the other children call the "Schwa". The "Schwa" is a boy who people don't notice. His friend, Antsy, calls it being functionally invisible. When the "schwa" is in a classroom with nine other people the teacher would only count nine students, if a group of people are standing in a circle they will not notice the "schwa unless he does something to draw direct attention to himself. He can overhear people talking about him because they won't see him even if he's standing a foot away in plain sight. When he meets Antsy, they conduct a bunch of experiments on whether or not people notice him and soon enough they are making a lot of money from people daring him to do things without getting noticed, like stealing donuts from the teacher's lounge or walking into the girl’s bathroom. 

The book is partly about the science fiction aspect of a partly invisible boy, but it is also about kids feeling invisible. The narrator, Antsy, lives in a big family where he can go unnoticed most of the time and at times he likes it but sometimes he doesn't. There's a contrast between the fiction of the invisible boy and the reality of a boy who feels invisible. I know that a lot of people my age feel unnoticed and some of them are. People just want to be noticed, to be acknowledged, to be seen. The book sends the message that you can make yourself noticed no matter who you are without being harmful to yourself and others. It manages to send the message while telling a comical science fiction story about a boy who actually is invisible. It in a funny way puts the other problem in perspective.

It's a book about invisibility whether it's wanted or unwanted, whether it’s real or metaphorical, whether it's helpful or not. It's a book about the two ids that have to learn how to deal with it or find a way to get rid of it. It’s a science fiction story that incorporates a story about a boy realizing that he wants to change and that he has to work hard to do that. Neal Shusterman is an amazing author and I would completely recommend his books.