Welcome to our very own series called Notebook Sisters Approved!

Because we’re modest about our opinions like that. It’s been so long since we did one, you’ve probably a) never heard of it, or b) forgotten what it’s about. I will fix all of this. Trust me. You can snoop at our past posts here or even closely analyse our last one on Aristotle And Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (phew) here.

Up for analysation today is She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick.

Why?

Oh, oh, REASONS. And I will tell all.

Firstly, though, I have to tell you a story. An amazing story. It involves this book. 

Over breakfast my dad and I were talking about Superheroes, as you do, because I was wearing a Superman shirt and feeling like a traitor to Marvel. Dad started talking about a blind superhero. We discussed. Breakfast (sadly) finished. The End.

Later, I was picking a book to read from my enormous TBR. I decided on She Is Not Invisible which I’d completely forgotten why I borrowed (it was because it featured a blind girl and that’s interesting) and because it needed to go back to the library.

She Is Not Invisible is about coincidences.

The book mentioned THE blind superhero my dad and I were talking about over breakfast.

I know, I know, you’re thinking, “So what, Cait?”

But that was part of the book too! Coincidences rarely mean anything except to the person it happened to. Explaining it is hard. But still, the person just has to have this little freak-out session because it’s unexplainably COOL. Coincidences are a mystery.

It’s also possible this book has powers, right? Right?!

I am possibly Edna while you are Helen right now.

So that was obviously freaky and awesome and made my day.

She Is Not Invisible is seriously awesome for multiple reasons, but I’m going to zoom in on: Their Dad is a Crazy Writer.

I find it mildly hilarious when books talk about writers. It’s like writerception…a writer writing about writing! (I’m easily amused.)

The narrator is Laureth (16yrs), who is blind, and she has a little brother named Benjamin, and their father is a writer. He used to write these funny books that everyone loved. Then he stopped. Mid-writers-crisis I would assume. He started writing serious books that everyone hated. Then he disappears and Laureth and Benjamin go to find him.

From London to America.

SHE’S BLIND. AND BENJAMIN IS 7 YEARS OLD.

It’s a crazy book and therefore awesome.

They have a notebook of their dad’s, which is his plottings for this book about coincidences. There are heaps of journal entries which are interesting buuut…confusing. They dive into science and history and my brain spun until it splatted. BUT THAT’S OKAY. The writing part made up for it.

There are so many references to Laureth saying writers are crazy (irony) and even Benjamin saying he’s not going to be a writer if they’re as strange as his dad. The dad’s journal entries are full of notes like “DON’T FORGET THIS” mixed with “PICK UP BENJAMIN FROM SCHOOL” and then “IMPORTANT PLOT POINT”.

It asked if writers are obsessed about their work?

The answer is yes. Want to know how I know? (Of course you do.)

The dad’s number in the book is 354 (for reasons you will find out when you read it). It plays a huge part in the book.

Do you know how many pages there are in She Is Not Invisible?

Why yes it happens to end on page 354.

How many times can I use that “coincidence, I think not?” gif? Because I could seriously use it again! This is mildly awesome, okay? I love this author.

There are a lot of reasons to read this book. 

I didn’t even mention:

– Michael, the weirdo American kid with a massive vocabulary, who plays a very small part but leaves a huge impact.
– The Benjamin Effect
– The amazingness talent it would take to write a book and not describe anything. (She is blind after all.)
– The courage of two children setting out to find their dad.
– The freakiness of ARE THEY GOING TO FIND HIM OR NOT?!
– The coincidences and the details that are wound in here.
– Cheese sandwiches.

Now off you pop to read it, while I sadly return my copy to the library. 

And I’ll leave you of this purposely posed picture that I was trying something new for my instagram account and you may admire my double-jointed thumb:

Cait has an intense longing to see Guardians of the Galaxy but due to cinemas being strange crowded places and money not growing on trees and MOCKINGJAY COMING OUT SOON, she won’t be seeing it until it’s on DVD. She would also like to see The Winter Soldier. Yes, she’s behind on these matters. She just finished GOOD OMENS by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and can’t decide what to read next.