The Schwa was Here by Neal Shusterman

Reviewed by Keri

Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES


Ratings Explanation

Language:  Smack talking among friends.  Threats from a bully.  The word wise*** used a handful of times.

Sexual Content:  Antsy and the Schwa end up fighting over Crawley’s grand-daughter.  She kisses Antsy.  Because she is blind, she uses her hands to feel their faces, which the boys find somewhat stimulating.

Adult Content:  Spoiler alert— the Schwa’s mother runs away with the local butcher.  The Schwa’s dad suffers a brain injury. Antsy’s parents get into a major fight and the kids worry about them getting a divorce.

Synopsis

Anthony Bonano, better known as Antsy to his friends, has enjoyed a fairly average life in New York with family and friends.  Average that is, until he decides to befriend Calvin Schwa.  The Schwa has a tendency to be overlooked and forgotten, in fact, it took quite a bit of effort for Antsy to remember him.  For some reason he was easy to forget and seemed to disappear right in front of you.  His eyes seemed to match the color of the sky and his clothes seemed to blend into anything he was near.  Antsy decides to prove this strange effect through a scientific experiment.  The results are as expected, the Schwa is practically unnoticed by all who pass by him.  Antsy decides to call this the Schwa effect.  As it turns out, this effect can be used to make some money.  With a little marketing help from Antsy, the Schwa starts to hire himself out for various covert tasks.  This earns both boys quite a bit of spending money until their toughest challenge is presented by their biggest enemy.  The challenge is to enter the house of the town’s infamous shut-in Mr. Crawley and bring back a dog dish as evidence they were there.  The boys aren’t counting on dealing with 14 afghan hounds and are quickly caught.  As payment for their trespassing, Crawley makes the boys pay through “community service” which comes in the form of walking his dogs.  After a few weeks, Crawley asks Antsy to leave the dogs for the Schwa and be a friend for his granddaughter, Lexi. It turns out that Lexi is blind and can only ‘see’ what she hears and feels.  For once in his life, the Schwa finds someone who sees him and knows that he is there.  The only problem is that Antsy likes Lexi too.  This puts a great strain on their friendship.  The Schwa becomes more and more determined to be noticed by the world.  His greatest fear is that he will disappear just as his mother did several years ago, without anyone knowing or caring.  It is now up to Antsy to find the truth and prevent the Schwa from vanishing forever.

The author got his idea during an author visit at a school.  A teacher pointed out a boy who had had his hand raised the whole time but had not been noticed.  I love the idea of this story.  We have all felt invisible at sometime and know the pain of wanting to be noticed.  The characters were heartwarming and diverse.  The ending was not your typical happily ever after.