Reviewed by Mechele R. Dillard for TeensReadToo.com
Seventeen-year-old Doug Hanson just wants to be alone with his trains. No one understands him except his best friend, Andy. His parents make him see a counselor, which he knows is pointless: Dr. Ahlstrom is not helping me one bit. Why? Because I do not need help--it's as simple as that (p. 22). So he doesn't want to make new friends or hang out with the kids at school--does that make him "troubled?" Of course not. But only Andy seems to understand that and accept him as he is.
Hautman draws the reader into the world he creates and holds them captive. One becomes as mesmerized with the model bridge Doug is building as he is; after a couple of rounds of counting by seventeens, this reader finds herself giving it a try. As the story unfolds, she begins to wish everyone would just get off Doug's back and let him build his models. Must everyone be popular, after all?
INVISIBLE is an excellent choice for readers who enjoy a bit of mystery with their realism, and Hautman is a master of words, only revealing "why" when the reader is least cognizant that there is even a question waiting to be answered.
Seventeen-year-old Doug Hanson just wants to be alone with his trains. No one understands him except his best friend, Andy. His parents make him see a counselor, which he knows is pointless: Dr. Ahlstrom is not helping me one bit. Why? Because I do not need help--it's as simple as that (p. 22). So he doesn't want to make new friends or hang out with the kids at school--does that make him "troubled?" Of course not. But only Andy seems to understand that and accept him as he is.
Hautman draws the reader into the world he creates and holds them captive. One becomes as mesmerized with the model bridge Doug is building as he is; after a couple of rounds of counting by seventeens, this reader finds herself giving it a try. As the story unfolds, she begins to wish everyone would just get off Doug's back and let him build his models. Must everyone be popular, after all?
INVISIBLE is an excellent choice for readers who enjoy a bit of mystery with their realism, and Hautman is a master of words, only revealing "why" when the reader is least cognizant that there is even a question waiting to be answered.
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