by Neal Shusterman
****
FIC SHU, Teen section
Calvin Schwa seems to be invisible. People forget about him the minute he's no longer standing next to them. His friend Antsy calls it the Schwa Effect and hatches a moneymaking scheme based on Calvin's "talent." That is until they get caught by the neighborhood's legendary mean guy, Mr. Crawley, who forces them to walk his 14 dogs as punishment. Later Antsy and and Lexie, Crawley's blind granddaughter, try to figure out what happened to Calvin's missing mother. Will Calvin's greatest fear come true? Will he disappear completely like his mother?
I love Shusterman's books. They're exciting, fast-paced, unique. Other books that we have by him that I enjoyed are Everlost and Downsiders. The Schwa Effect is one of the California Young Reader Medal nominated titles for middle school students.
