Gwen already has a lot on her mind; her violin auditions at Juilliard are fast approaching. But when her beloved grandfather disappears from his New York home, she can't stop worrying. Then others things start to happen. A truly creepy great-uncle begins making visits; she spots a mysterious stranger; and then her new friend Robert tells her a story about something he saw that is even stranger than these weird experiences. Before she knows it, Gwen and her musician friend are catapulted into the adventure of their young lives.
Publishers Weekly
Clements hits no false notes in this beguiling sequel to Things Not Seen. Narrator Gwen left her West Virginia home two years earlier to live with her ailing grandfather in Manhattan to attend a music academy on scholarship. The disciplined 17-year-old plays her violin many hours each day, practicing for auditions for a prestigious music college. But her attention is diverted when she receives a phone message from Grampa, who says he is going away for awhile and that Gwen should carry on and tell no one about his disappearance especially his brother (who co-owns the building in which he and Gwen live and is trying to pressure Grampa into selling it). After she meets Robert (the temporarily invisible Bobby from Things Not Seen), Gwen senses she has found a kindred spirit in this kind, trumpet-playing teen who shares her musical aspirations. She tells him her secret and, after the two notice a man's shadow that has no visible body casting it, Robert confides to her the story of his experience turning invisible. The novel's mysterious strain reaches a crescendo when Robert, in a heartstopping scene, opens the basement freezer looking for steaks and finds something else instead. In her credible, likable voice, Gwen observes that she wants her complicated story to have a tidy ending with "that wonderful last burst of symphonic harmony." This haunting novel's denouement has just that. Not since Frindle has Clements's writing achieved such near perfect pitch. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) Agent, Writers House. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 6 Up-The protagonist in Things Not Seen (Philomel, 2002) becomes a helpful friend to 17-year-old Gwen, who has been living with her grandfather in Manhattan while attending music school and preparing for intense auditions for college. Then, just after her grandfather and his brother have a fight about money, her grandfather disappears, leaving a confusing and cryptic note. Robert, also a musician, and Gwen pair up to solve the mystery when an uncomfortable reminder of his past shows up. The plot is quick, and readers will identify with Gwen's feelings of being torn between responsibility to herself and to her future, and her need to find her grandfather. Gwen's story is a good mix of mystery, friendship, and fantasy, with a touch of creepiness that will make the most sense to those who have read Things Not Seen.-Sherry Quinones, Frederick County Public Libraries, MD Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Seventeen-year-old Gwen is from Charleston, W.Va., but she has been studying violin in New York City and living with her grandfather. Grampa's health is poor, and his younger brother needs him to agree to sell the apartment house they jointly own. This threatens to shatter Gwen's concentration just as she comes up to her auditions for Julliard. Then Gwen's grandfather vanishes, leaving cryptic recorded instructions for her to follow. Gwen dodges Great Uncle Hank with the help of Robert, a trumpet student in town for auditions of his own. Grampa's body turns up, the police get involved and a sinister invisible stranger complicates everything. This companion to Things Not Seen (2002) is a disappointment in comparison. Though some of the plot centers on Robert's earlier invisibility, that part resolves itself off-stage, and it's the story of the missing Grampa that is harder to believe. Endless nattering about the auditions may hold some appeal for musical students, and the heavily embroidered New York references might attract others, but most will hope for it all to be over. (Fiction. 12-14)
From the Publisher
Not since Frindle has Clements's writing achieved such near perfect pitch.
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
JUN/JUL 07 - AudioFile
Andrew Clements’s multilayered novel weaves a realistic coming-of-age story with a warp of mystery and a weft of science fiction. Gwen left her family in West Virginia to live with her grandfather while attending the Manhattan School of Music in pursuit of a career as a professional violinist. Nancy Wu is believable as a young woman trying to maintain her focus and schedule as college auditions approach while at the same time trying to solve the mystery of her grandfather’s disappearance. Wu manages to maintain the credibility of Gwen's story, even after Robert, the protagonist in Clements’s previous book, THINGS NOT SEEN, reappears and infuses the story with a dose of sci-fi. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
