Aj Vanderhorst

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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This is one of those posts, I'm afraid, that I end up sounding less positive about than I am. So let me start off with this: I liked The Mostly Invisible Boy, I think your average Middle Grade Fantasy reader will, too. Sure, I have some issues with it, but that just means its in the same company as works by Brandon Mull, Christopher Healy, and Rick Riordan.

WHAT'S THE MOSTLY INVISIBLE BOY ABOUT?
What if you find yourself in a magic kingdom only to find out that no one there believes in magic? That's just what happens to Casey Grimes.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Casey Grimes is an eleven-year-old who transferred into a new Middle School at the beginning of the year. As far as Casey can tell, no one at the school is aware that he exists—no one seems to see him for more than a few seconds at a time, and even people he's spent a lot of time with don't remember him for longer than a few seconds. To say this is getting to him would be an understatement.

When he gets home from the last day of school he learns that his parents are leaving for a surprise vacation, leaving Casey and his sister, Gloria, with a babysitter for a week. This is just not what he needs after the worst last day of school he can imagine, so he heads out to the woods behind his house to blow off some steam by climbing trees. He comes across an impossibly large oak tree he'd never noticed before.

Driven by its uniqueness, novelty, and a desire for something that he probably can't name, Casey climbs the tree and makes several discoveries that change his life. Casey and Gloria will be brought into a new, heightened reality, a world of magic, monsters, honor, adventure, and danger. A world where he is seen, he is noticed—and he finds purpose.

Now, he just has to make sure the two of them survive it.

THE WORLDBUILDING
The Sylvan Woods is a world hidden from regular mortals (they're dubbed "Civilians"—not as fun to say as "Muggles," but it gets the message across a bit more clearly). The residents of the Sylvan Woods serve as a defense against the creatures who would destroy humanity, they hold back that which overrun the world.

There's a history of conflict, of triumphs, victories, of developing prejudices—and a loss of the sense of wonder and magic behind the duties. Many Sylvans resent Civilians, looking upon them with disdain. They're soft and useless, taking the sacrifices of the Sylvans for granted (never realizing or even considering the possibility that we just don't know they exist).

Worse, many of these Sylvans don't believe in magic. Thinking it's all stuff of fiction, legend—Dark Age belief. This is very understandable, but when the greatest defenses of the Sylvan are magical...well, that doesn't bode well for their efforts, does it?

Some dynamite worldbuilding and it should be a great world to explore in the volumes to come.

MS. JONES
The Grimes parents leave the children in the care of "an extremely well-qualified traveling babysitter" (her words), who are part of the vacation package the parents receive. She is the character I think we really needed more of to strengthen the book (although, more of every adult would've been helpful). She's some sort of strange hybrid of the P. L. Travers version of Mary Poppins, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and Professor Savant. She blithely accepts whatever weirdness that Casey and Gloria talk about, talks about even stranger things than them, has some agenda that has nothing to do with babysitting, and seems to know more about what's going on with the Grimes family than any of the Grimes do.

And every time she's mentioned or is in a scene, whatever she is doing, saying, or not doing or saying is more interesting than anything that Casey or Gloria is up to. Not because they're uninteresting, it's just she's that interesting. A little more of her would've helped—too much more and she'd have overshadowed the whole thing (which wouldn't necessarily be bad, it'd just be a different kind of book).

MY ISSUES
My problems with the book boil down to this—too often it feels undercooked. All the flavor is there, all the ingredients are present—it just was taken out of the oven too soon.

It's clear that Vanderhorst has a well-thought-out plan, he knows what the world is about, he has a story he's wanting to tell—and that he thinks he told. He hits all the plot points, shows us the various monsters and geographic elements, but doesn't give the reader everything we need to understand the importance of them.

It's hard to explain without giving you a couple of pages and going through them line by line. But, to use an example most people reading this should get—it's as if we see Harry and Hagrid on Diagon Alley, going into Ollivanders, Flourish and Blotts, and the Gringotts and maybe see what they get, without knowing where Diagon Alley is, how you get to it, who shops there and why. The essentials are there—we see the coins, the books, and the wand—we may even see some of the odd characters around there. But without all the context, details, and flavors that The Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone gives us, it's not as cool (for lack of a better word to sum up the experience).

This happens several times throughout the book—including the last chapter. That felt incredibly rushed—like it was the highlight reel of a major sporting event, which might be okay for a casual viewer, but not for a fan who wants to understand what happened during the game/match.

None of this ever ruins the novel, it's still enjoyable, you always know what happens. But...it certainly dampens my enthusiasm.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE MOSTLY INVISIBLE BOY?
It was...pretty okay. I liked the book and had plenty of fun watching Casey and Gloria learn about the Sylvan Woods and get into (and out of) scrapes. I thought many of the other children they encountered were interesting and can see how the relationships will develop over the coming books into the kind of thing that makes addicts of Middle Grade Fantasy readers. I also appreciated all the adult characters—not something that can be said for almost every MG Fantasy I can think of.

My issues keep me from being effusive with praise and restrain my enthusiasm about this book—but I do think it's something you should pick up for your favorite member of the target audience. Particularly, I think, if they're fans of Mull's Fablehaven/Dragonwatch series.… (more)

Book source ~ Tour

Casey Grimes is 11, friendly, and polite. But as the new kid at Vintage Woods Middle School he has a problem. No one seems to see him unless he does something outrageous to get noticed, but then it’s only fleeting. People go back to not seeing him. It’s like he’s invisible or something. The only time he feels any joy is when he’s climbing trees. He has an almost unnatural knack for it. When summer break starts, he finds a huge oak tree to climb and when he finally reaches the top he discovers something interesting. There’s a whole other world out there and they’re called Sylvans. After meeting Luciana West he and his little sister Gloria decide to follow her when she returns to Sylvan Woods and see what they can find out. That’s when their adventure truly begins.

This is an engaging and charming Middle Grade Fantasy story. Kind of icky at times and there’s danger, too, but not so much you’d want to keep it from the youngsters. It skips along at a pretty good clip and I had to remind myself to suspend disbelief and just go with the flow. I love the characters and the world and while I find it kinda wonky that all the parents have just left the kids at school and gone off to battle, at least there are some adults (teachers) around to keep an eye on them. But maybe not enough of them because these kids get up to some shenanigans. LOL In any case, I quite enjoyed my time with Casey, Gloria, and the others and look forward to learning more about this new and fascinating world.… (more)

Packed with imagination and magical adventure, this is a book to cuddle up with under the blankets and get lost in an exciting world.

Casey is eleven-years-old, would love to have some friends, but has a very strange problem. He's almost always invisible. At home, he's completely visible. When his parents win a sudden trip, he takes off into the forest to climb a tree, and what an odd tree it is! But other strange things are popping up, too. The babysitter isn't all that she seems, monsters are suddenly lurking in the forest shadows and a strange girl from another world speaks to him in his head. Soon, he finds himself in a magical world with dangerous monsters and an even more threatening war. There might be a way to save everyone, but only if he and his friends aren't captured first.

This is such a fun, exciting read. While it starts out with a very strange surmise, Casey's invisibility is only the beginning of the imagination in these pages. The author has understood what a thrilling adventure for kids should look like and created a very rich and enticing world. It starts out with something most kids love to do (or dream of)—climbing trees. But already here, things take off in wondrous directions as Casey discovers the most amazing platform with tons of secret closets...in the tree. The magic expands from there as another world opens up and the danger comes right along with it.

Many kids will understand how it is to feel invisible, sometimes, and what it's like not to be understood or accepted. Casey not only has problems at school and with his parents, but even in the magical world, isn't greeted with open arms. And yet, he stumbles on the magic of friendship and there's even the warming relationship of sisterly/brotherly love. He learns to trust himself and step past his own comfort zone. In other words, Casey is a character who is easy to relate to.

Not only was the imagination and fantasy in this book a real treat, but the author never talks down to the reader. This tale allows Casey to head into a true adventure, where the stakes are high, the danger real, and his goal is almost impossible to reach. It's the kind of read which will keep kids on the edge of their seat and dream of battling monsters and saving the world themselves.

I received a complimentary copy and enjoyed diving into this book quite a bit.… (more)