Invisible (Hautman novel)

Last updated

Invisible
Invisible (Hautman novel).jpg
First edition cover
Author Pete Hautman
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Publication date
June 1, 2005
Pages160
ISBN 0-689-86800-6

Invisible is a 2005 young adult novel by American author Pete Hautman, detailing a 17-year-old boy's battle with his inner demons/mental illness and his descent into insanity. It won the 2006 Wisconsin Library Association Children's Book Award. The American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) named it one of the best books for young adults of 2006.

Contents

Plot summary

Douglas Hanson, or Dougie as he is referred to by his bestfriend, begins the story by talking about his best (and only) friend, Andrew (Andy) Morrow. Athletic and popular, Andy is very different from socially inept Dougie, yet the two find things to talk about. However, as the story progresses it becomes evident that Andy and Dougie's friendship is not what it seems to be at first. Dougie also is suicidal and has an obsession with a train set he inherited from his grandfather. He creates, a town involving the trains, called Madham and obsessively builds a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge using match sticks in the basement of his parents' home. Dougie appears to be unaware he has some form of mental illness (potentially PTSD, schizophrenia, pyromania), although what type of mental illness he struggles with is never discussed. He often views others as being different or abnormal. Dougie claims he is not a troubled youth, but others seem to see him as such, and he engages in troublesome activities: stalking and prank calling. As the book progresses, Dougie mentions attending (and skipping) therapy sessions and not taking the medications he had been prescribed for anxiety. After an incident at school, Dougie eventually admits to his psychologist that he hasn't been taking his medications and is also forced to remember a fateful night at the Tuttle Place. Dougie initially seems to come to terms with this reality during the therapy session, but afterwards convinces himself the illusory manifestations are also real.

In the end, he sets a series of events in place that have dire consequences for him that lead to his hospitalization. However, it is debatable as to Dougie's fate since he was hospitalized at the "Madham Burn Unit". He also mentions the hospital smells of burning plastic, referring to the plastic people in Madham, present when he set the town on fire, and he wants to find his grandfather, to see if he is mad about the train. Whether it is his imagination that leads him to smelling burnt plastic and seeing "Madham Burn Unit" or otherwise is not revealed.

Reception

Publishers Weekly called Invisible "painfully sad" while highlighting "the wisecracking but clearly unreliable voice of its narrator", which they compared to the narrator in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time . [1] Kirkus Reviews also discussed the "unreliable narration", comparing it to the works of William Faulkner. [2]

According to Booklist 's Ilene Cooper, "Hautman does a superb job of crafting the odd sanctuary that is Doug’s mind", [3] with Publishers Weekly similarly praising Hautman's "keen ability for characterization", as well as how he "expertly teases out the truth about a tragic incident ... that propels the story to its horrific conclusion." [1] Kirkus discussed how the novel's "the deceptively simple prose doesn’t keep secrets from its readers." [2] Cooper agreed, writing, "The truth about Andy won’t come as a surprise, but there are some unexpected plot turns here, and the chilling but ambiguous denouement is definitely unsettling." [3] Kirkus concluded that "Dougie’s harrowing mysteries are no less tragic for their visibility." [2]

In 2006, Invisible won the Wisconsin Library Association Children's Book Award, [4] and the Young Adult Library Services Association named it one of the year's best books for young adults. [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

Peter Murray Hautman is an American author best known for his novels for young adults. One of them, Godless, won the 2004 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The National Book Foundation summary is, "A teenage boy decides to invent a new religion with a new god."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Strasser</span> American novelist

Todd Strasser is an American writer of more than 140 young-adult and middle grade novels and many short stories and works of non-fiction, some written under the pen names Morton Rhue and T.S. Rue.

<i>Sweetblood</i> 2003 book by Pete Hautman

Sweetblood is a 2003 young adult novel by American author Pete Hautman. It is the story of a teenage girl's encounter with the vampire subculture. In 2004, the Young Adult Library Services Association named it among the year's Best Books for Young Adults, and it won the Minnesota Book Award for Best Youth Literature.

<i>Cut</i> (novel) 2000 novel by Patricia McCormick

Cut is a 2000 novel by Patricia McCormick, targeted at young adults. In 2002 it was named one of the ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for that year.

<i>Forgotten Fire</i> 2002 young adult novel by Adam Bagdasarian

Forgotten Fire (2002) is a young adult novel by Adam Bagdasarian. The book is based on a true story and follows the young boy Vahan Kenderian through the Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1923. It became a National Book Award finalist, National Book Award for Young People's Literature honor, and the IRA Children's Literature and Reading Notable Book for a Global Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adele Griffin</span> American young adult fiction author

Adele Griffin is the author of over thirty highly acclaimed books across a variety of genres, including Sons of Liberty and Where I Want to Be, both National Book Award finalists. Her debut adult novel The Favor explores themes of friendship, surrogacy, and nontraditional family building.

Stephanie Kuehn is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her William C. Morris Award-winning debut novel Charm & Strange, Delicate Monsters, and Complicit. Her novels often explore themes of mental illness and psychology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phillip Hoose</span> American writer (born 1947)

Phillip M. Hoose is an American writer of books, essays, stories, songs, and articles. His first published works were written for adults, but he turned his attention to children and young adults to keep up with his daughters. His work has been well received and honored more than once by the children's literature community. He won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Nonfiction, for The Race to Save the Lord God Bird (2004), and the National Book Award, Young People's Literature, for Claudette Colvin (2009).

<i>Lush</i> (novel) 2006 novel by Natasha Friend

Lush is a young adult fiction novel by Natasha Friend published in 2006 by Milkweed Editions. It focuses on Samantha Gwynn, a thirteen-year-old girl whose father is an alcoholic, which "lush" is another name for. It was listed on the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) 2007 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers released by the American Library Association (ALA). It was also named a 2008 Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominee.

<i>Shine</i> (Myracle novel) 2011 book by Lauren Myracle

Shine is a 2011 young adult mystery novel by Lauren Myracle. The book was published on May 1, 2011, and follows a teenage girl investigating a hate crime involving the beating and near-death of her best friend in a small, North Carolina town. Shine won the 2012 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award and is on the ALA's "YALSA Reader’s Choice" and "Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults" lists for 2012.

Martha Brockenbrough is an American author of fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. Her first book, It Could Happen To You: Diary Of A Pregnancy and Beyond, was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing in 2002. She is the founder of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG) and of National Grammar Day.

<i>Hey, Kiddo</i> 2018 graphic memoir by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction is a graphic memoir by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, published October 9, 2018 by Graphix. The book tells the story of Krosoczka's childhood living with his grandparents while his mother lived with a substance use disorder.

<i>Clap When You Land</i> 2020 young adult novel by Elizabeth Acevedo

Clap When You Land, written by Elizabeth Acevedo, is a young adult novel published by HarperTeen on May 5, 2020. The audiobook, produced by Harper Audio and narrated by Melania-Luisa Marte and Elizabeth Acevedo, was released on the same date.

Mindy McGinnis is an American writer of young adult fiction. Her most notable works include Be Not Far from Me (2020), Heroine (2019), The Female of the Species (2016), and A Madness So Discreet (2015).

Gavriel Savit is an American actor, singer, and writer. His works include The Way Back and Anna and the Swallow Man.

<i>Lovely War</i> 2019 novel by Julie Berry

Lovely War is a young adult romance novel by Julie Berry, published March 5, 2019 by Viking Books for Young Readers. The book is a New York Times Bestseller and was well-received by critics.

<i>Ghost</i> (Reynolds novel) 2016 novel by Jason Reynolds

Ghost is a young adult novel by Jason Reynolds, published August 30, 2016 by Atheneum Books. It is the first book of Reynold's Track series, followed by Patina (2017), Sunny (2018), and Lu (2018).

<i>Look Both Ways</i> (novel) 2019 novel by Jason Reynolds

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks is a young adult novel written by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Alexander Nabaum, and published October 8, 2019 by Atheneum Books. The book is a New York Times best seller, National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist (2019), Coretta Scott King Award honor book (2020), and Carnegie Medal recipient (2021).

<i>When Stars Are Scattered</i> 2020 nonfiction young adult graphic novel by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

When Stars Are Scattered is a nonfiction young adult graphic novel written by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, illustrated by Victoria Jamieson and Iman Geddy, and published April 14, 2020, by Dial Books.

<i>Black Enough</i> 2019 young adult anthology

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America is a 2019 young adult anthology edited by Ibi Zoboi. The fictional stories are all written by Black authors and "explor[e] black interconnectedness, traditions, and identity in terms of how they apply to black teens". Common themes include Black identity, sexual awakening, and teenage worries.

References

  1. 1 2 "Invisible by Pete Hautman". Publishers Weekly . June 27, 2005. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Invisible". Kirkus Reviews . May 15, 2005. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Cooper, Ilene (June 1, 2005). "Invisible". Booklist . Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Wisconsin Library Association Children's Book Awards: Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award". NoveList. EBSCOhost. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  5. ↑ "YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2006". NoveList. EBSCOhost. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Best Books for Young Adults: 2006". Booklist . March 1, 2006. Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.