THE SCHWA WAS HERE

Calvin Schwa is special, see? Well, no, because you can’t see him at all. The Schwa is disturbingly unnoticeable. For years he has been marked absent in school, and he has certainly never managed to make friends. When—with great difficulty—he intrudes upon the consciousness of Antsy and friends, the boys try to codify what they call “the Schwa effect.” Will the Schwa be noticed spying in the teachers’ lounge? Thumbing his nose at the principal? Standing in the boys’ bathroom, wearing a Day-Glo orange sombrero, and singing “God Bless America” at the top of his lungs? Amidst their antics, Antsy and the Schwa come to the aid of a cranky and rich old man with a beautiful blind granddaughter, start national graffiti trends, and explore the Schwa’s (quite interesting!) paperclip collection. It’s all fun and games until friendships dissolve. Will the mysterious Night Butcher provide the Schwa with clues to his unwanted invisibility? The presence of stock characters and subplots doesn’t detract from the cleverness and humor of this tall tale. (Fiction. 11-15)