Invisible person sitting on bench

Things Not Seen

What happens when an invisible boy meets a blind girl? The surreal story features an unlikely friendship blossoming from the characters' unique perspectives.

By Andrew Clements

Things Not Seen book coverHave you ever felt invisible with only one friend whom you can trust? If not, you should explore the book Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements. Things Not Seen is a great book because it allows you to see things in a different way. I would also recommend this book to people who enjoy science fiction. Here I will talk about the theme, summary, and my personal response to this book.

What I think the theme of this book is: sometimes you’re right but you just don’t see things my way. In other words, there are multiple ways to perceive truth. Because Alicia is blind and people don’t like her, but inside, she is just as normal as any other human being. 

The book is set in Chicago, IL, and has two main characters, Bobby and Alicia. The boy, Bobby, turns invisible all of a sudden from a mysterious cause! He doesn’t know how he became invisible or who turned him invisible. He stays at home, to not cause any problem for himself and his family. One day, he meets this beautiful girl named Alicia, who is blind, and is unaware that he is invisible. Her unique perspective let the friendship blossom. A few weeks later, the school he used to go to is teaming up with the police, thinking that something is up. If you want to know the rest, then you’ll have to read it yourself!

My personal response to the book is that it is weird and sad. When Bobby turned invisible, it was weird and when the accident happened to Bobby’s parents, it was sad. Things Not Seen is overall a great book and isn’t always happy but again, I recommend this because it has amazing writing and I just love it!

Share your thoughts