Many readers might confuse the diary entries and picture comics that help tell the story in The Last Invisible Boy to be a Wimpy kid read-alike, or misinterpret author Jeff Kinney’s review on the cover as an endorsement but that is the extent of the story similarities.
”I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll tell you what you could probably guess from looking at the cover and flipping through the book.
1. It’s about an invisible boy. Obviously. That’s me. Actually, I’m not totally invisible. Yet. But I’m getting there.
2. There are a bunch of my drawings.
3. There are some really funny, really happy moments.
4. Just so you know, there are also some sad moments.
5. Everything in here is the truth. So if you like stories about true things, you might like this book.”
Evan Kuhlman’s character is Finn Garrett. His father has suddenly died, and he and his family are coping with their new lives. His mother is depressed, his younger brother needs a new father figure, and Finn is worried about returning to school. In addition, Finn’s skin and hair are becoming whiter and lighter every day since his father’s death. Finn and others have a variety of theories as to why this is happening, but one of Finn’s theories is that he is becoming invisible. He’s afraid that, one day, he is going to wake up to find himself completely transparent.
The book flows with a stream-of-consciousness narrative. Although it claims to have some funny moments, I think the term “lighter” would be more accurate. I wouldn’t really call them funny. This is about a kid grieving his dad, not an average kid going about his day-to-day antics.
The story was sweet. I think it would be meaningful to a child who had experienced the death of a parent. Many times, the narrator Finn talks directly to the reader and encourages them to draw, ride a bike, know the meaning to names or remember a happy memory. There are many opportunities for journaling and classroom exercises if used correctly. I don’t know if I liked it as much as Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life which also tries to find meaning after the death of a father and any comparison drawn between it and Diary of a Wimpy Kid does it a disservice.
Readers will walk away learning much about the meanings of people’s names-such as Amanda means “lovable,” what the first inklings of young love feel like (Little fizzles of light sparkle in the air around us, like they sometimes do when Meli and I are this close), and how one 12-year-old boy works through the emotions and life changes that the death of a parent cause.
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
In case you were curious about Jeff Kinney’s endorsement: “Heartbreaking and uplifting…a gutsy book that will stay with me a long time.”
