Book Review: Invisible Lines by Mary Amato

*ARC provided by publicist*

Invisible Lines is the story Trevor Musgrove, graphic artist extraordinaire.  Trevor is used to not having a lot of things.  His family lives in a run-down housing complex and while many of his classmates have plenty of money, he must earn his money (by drawing designs for his classmates) to buy soccer gear.  When he is mistakenly enrolled in an advanced science class, he meets an extraordinary teacher who helps him see that even in the worst situations, life can thrive.

Things I Liked:
I thought it was a very hopeful story, despite all the bad things that seem to continue to happen to Trevor.  His ability to face the difficulties sometimes with strength (and humor) and sometimes with anger made him much more believable.  I love how things don't magically work out for him, he had to work hard for what he did get and forget about things he didn't.  This is definitely a book with some tough issues, but quite well done.  Also, I think the illustrations will be great - not all of them were in the ARC, but what I did see, I liked.  I enjoyed this thought of Trevor's:

"How come some babies get cardboard boxes and other babies get houses like Langley's?  That doesn't seem fair.  It seems like everybody should start out the same.  A real soft blanket and a little bed and some milk.  But you can't pick how you start, can you?  So, is it luck?  Good luck if you end up in Langley's house and bad luck if you end up in a Dumpster?  How can something as important as your life be based on luck?  And when you know you're not lucky, how are you supposed to feel?" p 254 of the ARC

Things I Didn't Like:
There were a few minor things that bothered me.  The writing sometimes was very literal - very much "telling" instead of "showing."  Particularly during action parts, like when they play soccer, it sounded like the descriptions for a movie scene.  Also, I was annoyed that Trevor tended to lie a lot about his family's situation in the beginning, and even though he had to make some admissions, there didn't seem to be any consequences.  

Read-alikes:
A little like The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: ->
a few scenes involving domestic violence

Overall rating: **** 

Do you prefer a happy ending or a hopeful one?

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