Things Hoped For

Starred review from August 21, 2006
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.

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. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine