THE UNVISIBLES -- Ian Whybrow

Holiday House -- hc
New York -- 2003 -- 184pp
ISBN: 0-8234-1972-x

Oliver Gasper finds an ancient magazine with a 'disappearing' formula in it. Desperate to dodge a French test, he tries it out . . . and it works! The problem is, somebody's stolen the magazine and Oliver can't remember the words he needs to get back again. Fed-up with being trampled underfoot and trapped in bus doors, Oliver turns to Nicky Chew for help. Nicky's the most invisible visible boy in school, staying out of trouble so the teachers never notice him. Together they set out to find the missing formula. But will Oliver ever be seen again? [from Goodreads.com]

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I'm conflicted with how to rate this book.

I was so looking forward to reading this -- my boys nad I really enjoy the couple of picture books of Whybrow's and based on those, along with the fantasy nature of this, I was looking forward to a really great time.

At times this book didn't disappoint, but just as often, it was ever so dull. I'm quite certain that my 11 and 9 year olds wouldn't make it through this. They'd be too bored at the dull moments.

Surprisingly, this has not been American-ized. This, too, causes difficulty in reading. While I'm more than passingly familiar with many British slang, it definitely slows down the reading process to have to 'translate' some of it.

School Library Journal writes:

There is considerable body humor and some crude language. Some of Oliver's
pranks verge on criminal. He commits physical assaults, pulls a fire alarm, and
impersonates a male teacher making inappropriate personal comments to a female
staff member (the man loses his job as a result). For fantasy with a
self-discovery theme, steer readers to Bruce Coville's Magic Shop books
(Harcourt).

and I would entirely agree. This isn't as funny as the author is trying to make it, nor is the mystery quite as exciting as it's hoping to be. Sadly, this is simply fair.