Invisible

Hartman, P. (2005). Invisible. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Genre: Dark Modern Realistic Fiction (mental illness, death, mystery)

Subjects: Young Adult Fiction - emotions & feelings, mental illness, social issues, friendship, adolescence, model railroads,

Audience: ages 12 & up

Doug Hansen is a shy, awkward seventeen year old boy.  His best friend Andy Morrow is a popular jock that lives next door, is in the drama club, and has a lot of friends.  His hobby is building a model railroad complete with a town called Madham and a bridge built out of matches and he is obsessed with fire.  Everyone around him sees that he is troubled, but Doug doesn't think he is.  He thinks that others are abnormal, not him.  Doug's parents think he he is disturbed and he sees a psychiatrist that prescribes medication, but Doug doesn't think he needs it and doesn't take it.  He has issues at school and even calls in a bomb threat that causes the school to be evacuated.  The boys beat him up and the girls think he is creepy because he stares at them.  Doug stalks a girl on which he has a crush and gets caught.  He manages to talk his way out of it but everyone knows it was him.  Throughout the story, Doug refers to his best friend Andy who accepts him as he is, but we do not meet Andy.  He refers to an incident at the Tuttle place but does not explain what he is talking about.  When Doug's parents realize that he is not taking his medication, they take him back to the psychiatrist.  The psychiatrist forces Doug to remember what happened at the Tuttle place and the reader discovers that Doug and Andy burned down the Tuttle house and Andy died.  Doug accepts that Andy has died but believes that his ghost is still with him.
When he returns home, Doug sets fire to his model train and the town of Madham and is badly burned.  Doug claims to be in the Madham burn unit, but the reader is unsure if he survived and is in the hospital or a psychiatric ward.  Hautman has created a first person narrative that is perfect for teaching students about unreliable narrators, foreshadowing, and reading between the lines to follow the author's clues.
Awards:
Elizabeth Burr / Worzalla Award (2006)

Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2008)
Teaching Resources:
Author's Website
Interview with Author
Lesson Plan