School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up
Alicia's best friend, Bobby, has gone to New York to scout out colleges, and she realizes that sooner or later she is going to have to tell him that she wants more than just friendship. As she faces the possibility that he is leaving her behind, and is still dealing with her blindness, a new problem crops up. At one point Bobby became invisible, and now there is another invisible person named William stalking him. He follows Bobby home, FBI agents are dropping by, and Alicia wonders just what's going on. Does William just want to return to normal? Is the FBI trying to steal the technology to turn people invisible? Or is William the real threat? Alicia's internal monologues are long, repetitive, and stilted. The plot gathers steam near the end, but Alicia's constant angst over Bobby detracts from it. Their relationship does not seem to have grown any deeper at the end of the book other than the fact that they have kissed. The language and writing seem a little too simple for the YA crowd, but fans of Things Not Seen (2002) and Things Hoped For (2006, both Philomel) might enjoy this installment in the series.-Jennifer-Lynn Draper, Children's Literature Consultant, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Kirkus Reviews
Clements's second sequel to the excellent Things Not Seen (2002) is even more disappointing than the first, Things Hoped For (2005). Diluting a thimbleful of plot with a gallon of hand-wringing analysis, he charts repeated encounters between blind Alicia, who narrates, and the invisible William, an ambiguous figure from the previous episode who has followed Alicia's formerly invisible heartthrob Bobby back to Chicago with a warning that their mutual secret is in danger of coming out. Having described how she gets around with her seeing-eye dog, fretted at length about whether Bobby is drawn as strongly to her as she is to him and wondered whether William has a secret agenda, Alicia whips out her magic decloaking device. Restored to visibility, William steals away in the night as Alicia and Bobby snuggle down for a first deep kiss-followed, unsurprisingly, by Alicia's rhapsodic meditation on same. An author usually good for clever premises and smart, likable characters has gone from talespinner to wheel spinner here. (Fantasy. 12 & up)
APRIL 2009 - AudioFile
Clements has a gift for creating likable kids, so listeners will most likely be able to forgive the farfetched plot in this follow-up to THINGS NOT SEEN. Jennifer Ikeda nails her portrayal of Alicia, a blind teenager who befriends Bobby, a young man she bumps into at the library—who just happens to be invisible. Ikeda does a superb job portraying Alicia's struggle with her blindness, the emotions of first love, and her fear when Bobby inadvertently brings home another invisible man. Ikeda’s heartfelt emotions as Alicia ponders her first kiss, practicing on her own arm, sound completely real and poignant. Somehow it all works—the characters are so charming listeners can't help rooting for them. D.G. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
