December 18, 2023
When June rolls around in Little Beach, N.C., a pair of residents and best friends, freckled Callie O’Connell and olive-skinned Talia, renew their “molecular level” bond with vacationing Cleo, who is Black and spending the summer with her grandparents. But this time, rising high school senior Cleo brings along quiet, pale-skinned Polly. While Callie initially feels resentful of Polly’s intrusion into the trio’s days of beach frolics and work at the roller-skating rink, friendship blossoms when Polly reveals her summer project: becoming invisible. Though Callie finds the idea ludicrous, Talia and Cleo are won over by YouTube videos and forums depicting how other young women, through ritual and practice, willed themselves to vanish. As they each contend with toxic romantic relationships, fraught home lives, and the perils of being seen and unseen, Callie’s skepticism fades, especially when the four girls find that the superpower is real—and dangerous. This eloquent, sometimes heartbreaking character study by Van Name (Any Place But Here) explores the liminal space between the precipice of childhood and adulthood. The ending, though predictable, is haunting, and luminous language brightens the often somber subject matter: “Four girls like kites, twisting and colorful, visible from space.” Ages 12–up. Agent: Maria Bell, Sterling Lord Literistic.
January 1, 2024
Four girls reckon with the costs and benefits of disappearing from their lives. Callie kicks off the summer before senior year by welcoming her close friend Cleo back to her small, touristy town of Little Beach, North Carolina. Cleo's a gay girl from Washington, D.C., who comes to the area every year to visit her grandparents; Callie and her best friend, Talia, met Cleo while playing on the beach as children. Joining Cleo this summer is Polly, a quiet girl whom Callie initially perceives as having "no presence whatsoever." Soon, however, the four of them become fast friends. The three old friends are looking forward to working their usual summer jobs at the roller-skating rink as well as pursuing a group summer project, a long-standing tradition; last year, they learned to make ice cream. This summer, Cleo proposes something radical: learning how to disappear. She produces evidence from YouTube of girls who have successfully become invisible. Interspersed throughout the girls' dogged disappearing efforts are the complications of teenage life; Talia is battling a toxic boyfriend, and bisexual Callie's falling for sweet Adam Liu, her first boyfriend. The topics of disordered eating and race (Callie, Talia, and Polly read white, while Cleo is Black) are touched upon but would have benefitted from further interrogation. Nonetheless, the strength of the girls' bonds makes this an original and worthwhile journey. Ominous, strategic foreshadowing creates anticipation, building eventually to a shocking, well-earned climax. A suspenseful story of friendship and magic. (playlist) (Fiction. 14-18)
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 1, 2024
Grades 8-11 Every year, Callie and Talia wait for Cleo, the third member of their best friend trio, to arrive in their North Carolina beach town for the summer so they can start a whirlwind two months together working on a new group project. But this year, Cleo has thrown two curveballs: first, by bringing a new friend, Polly, into the group, and, second, by suggesting their group project be learning how to turn invisible. Based on YouTube videos and internet-forum discussions, the girls perform the ritual under the new moon--and against all odds, it works. They're thrilled to have a respite from their bodies, their fears, and their families. But the problem with disappearing is that it's hard to be seen again. Told from Callie's point of view, this evocative summer novel has precisely the right blend of haunting fantastical elements and down-to-earth realism as Van Name explores body dysmorphia, male-gaze culture, queerness in the South, and the unbreakable bond of teenage friendships.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from May 17, 2024
Gr 9 Up-This is a nostalgic coming-of-age story about four friends who spend their summer together; however, they are each at a crossroads in their lives as they approach senior year. It is narrated by Callie, who sets the wistful tone, recalling the summer where everything changed. She, Talia, and Cleo have spent every summer together since they were 11, each time completing a project. With the addition of Cleo's new friend Polly, the girls resolve to disappear using a technique Cleo discovered online. Although Callie is skeptical, the others are enamored by the possibility of disappearing, even temporarily, from bad romantic and familial relationships and the confusing, sometimes uncomfortable reality of just existing as a young woman. Although becoming invisible works, they eventually realize that despite this reckless, new freedom, it is getting harder to remain themselves. The real question is, can they agree to give it up or is the temptation too great? This novel evokes a deep, real connection amongst the characters and the genuine hurdles of emerging adulthood. The narrative is well written and feels authentic in its approach to the levels of visibility and invisibility women of any age experience. VERDICT A beautiful and sometimes haunting narrative that will appeal to readers of both realistic and fantasy fiction.-Linsey Milillo
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.