Sunday, February 18, 2007

The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman



Another one I had to read for Abe. I was pleasantly surprised by the voice of the narrator, Antsy Bonano, because of his quirky sense of humor. Smartaleck. Really. And the whole concept of Calvin Schwa, the boy at school that nobody notices was fascinating. I know a few students who feel like the Schwa. I LOVED the experiments about the Schwa effect. Teachers who didn't notice him. Cafeteria workers who didn't notice him. Adminstrators didn't. But, unfortunately, the Schwa's father didn't notice him much either. Antsy and the Schwa make a lot of money on the effect, but get into trouble with the local old codger. Add in his blind daughter, and you have an interesting plotline. I must say that this novel is pretty original. So I liked it. It felt a little junior highish (recommended for grades 7-9 according to Baker & Taylor), so I'm not sure how hard I'll push this at the Abe meeting. But it's better than Red Kayak, Touching Spirit Bear, and a few others I 've read lately.

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