The Invisible Enemy

Marthe Jocelyn's The Invisible Enemy is a funny, fizzing school story for 8 year olds about a girl whose worst enemy vanishes into thin air.

What happens

Billie Stoner starts the new term with two resolutions. Make more friends. Stop letting Alyssa Morgan get to her.

The second one lasts about a minute. Alyssa hands round a box of brownies to half the class, then whips the box away just as Billie reaches in. (There were at least five left. Billie saw them!)

Then there's Jean-Pierre, just arrived from Montreal, who can do amazing tricks with a yo-yo. Billie was planning to befriend him first. Alyssa beats her to it. Worse still, Billie's best friend Hubert suddenly cares far more about yo-yos than about her.

Billie does have one big secret. Her mum is the school librarian, which is embarrassing enough. But tucked in a makeup bag in her backpack is a canister of Vanishing Powder, made by her genius friend Jody.

You can probably guess where this is going once Alyssa gets hold of that bag. On a class trip to a museum full of stone knights and chapels, she disappears. And according to Billie, it doesn't wear off (Billie might be enjoying herself a little bit here).

So now Billie's stuck hiding the one girl she can't stand. Anything Alyssa touches vanishes too, including another girl's ponytail!

Billie is a brilliant narrator. She's quick and cross and very funny about her own bad ideas. She's also honest about the things that sting, like watching your best friend drift off, or your mum telling off your whole class. Who hasn't secretly wished the class bully would just disappear?

It's set in New York, so there's sixth grade and a school yard, plus a few crushes on the new boy. One thing to flag. Early on Alyssa calls Jean-Pierre a gypsy because of his dark hair and skin, and Billie half agrees with her. It's a dated, unkind word, and it might be worth a quick chat.

What to read next

If your reader likes a sharp girl telling her own story, Marthe Jocelyn also wrote The Body under the Piano. Aggie Morton is twelve, shy and much happier with a mystery than a conversation. It's a bit older in feel, with a real body at its heart.