Invisible

Cecily Anne Paterson's Invisible is a moving school story for 10 year olds about a girl who has spent four years trying very hard not to be seen.

What happens

Jazmine has a trick. She pulls her hearing aid out, curls up in her hammock chair and melts away until she's no one at all. It helps her not think about her dad, who died when she was little. It helps at school too, where she's the new girl for the fourth time in four years.

Her mum's rule is simple. Don't tell anyone your problems, because they'll only leave. So Jaz doesn't feel anything, doesn't say much and drifts along with whoever's nearest.

At her new high school, that happens to be Shalini. She calls Jaz "deaf girl" and sends her to the canteen for pies and milkshakes. It feels a bit like having a friend (sort of). Then Shalini misses out on the part she wanted in this year's big drama production, and she turns up at lunch with a baseball bat.

The book opens in the principal's office, with Jaz facing a three-week suspension for something she didn't do but didn't stop either. The drama teacher, Miss Fraser, offers her another choice. She can spend every afternoon for eight weeks helping to put on the play. Could there be anything worse for a girl who wants to be invisible?

It's written in Jaz's own voice, so you feel every clenched fist and every hot face. Later she starts a journal Miss Fraser gives her, written as letters to her dad. Watching her write down her very first feeling is a lovely moment.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Grief sits right at the heart of this one. Jaz's dad had depression before he died, and she still wonders if it was her fault. His death is backstory, told early on, not a twist later in the book. There's also bullying about her deafness, including some really unkind names.

If your reader has lost someone, this could be a tender read, and you'll know best whether it's the right time. For a child who likes a story that's honest about feelings, it's a hopeful, gentle one.

What to read next

For another girl finding her way at a school where nobody quite gets it, Song for a Whale might be a good next step. Iris is Deaf, reads antique radio magazines under her desk and was named after a whale that washed up on the day she was born.