Schwa Was Here

Peach’s Picks Rating


Title:
The Schwa Was Here

Author:
Neal Shusterman

Illustrator:
None

ISBN:
978-0525471820

Publisher:
New York: Dutton Children's Books

Copyright:
2004

Length:
228 pages

Plot Summary:
“Schwa: The faint vowel sound in many unstressed syllables in the English language (intro to book)”, an almost indistinct sound. Calvin Schwa is almost invisible to his teachers, school mates, and family. He has a way of suddenly appearing and vanishing like a whisper. Anthony Bonano, also known as Antsy, and his friends, Howie and Ira, find this out one afternoon while they are throwing a plastic dummy off the Marine Park Bridge in Brooklyn and filming the event. Imperceptibly he appears to Antsy and friends holding the dummy’s broken head. The boys team up to use the Schwa’s ability to go unnoticed to their benefit, tricking and deceiving others. They meet their match when trying to trick Old Man Crawley, the mysterious curmudgeon who lives a strange existence in solitude with 14 Afghan dogs. He calls their bluff and they end up as caretakers for his seven virtues, seven vices, and one granddaughter. The end is unexpected and leaves the reader thinking about the Schwa and relationships in general.

Critical Evaluation:
The story is told in first person by the teen male protagonist, Antsy. He and his friends speak in authentic voices using teen slang with a Brooklyn accent. Written dialect or accents can sometimes be difficult to follow in narrative, but Shusterman masters it here. The reader will fall in with the cadence of Brooklyn. There is some bathroom humor that will get boys chuckling, for example; page 2, the play on the word PISHER Plastics (name of the company for whom Antsy’s father works) and the location of the company’s name on plastic urinals. The story is full of high jinks that teen boys would like to image joining: throwing a dummy off a bridge and video taping the fall and blowing up the dummy with firecrackers. Each chapter is cleverly titled with a titillating phrase that foreshows upcoming events. The plot becomes very complex and begins to ramble in the middle. The ending is unexpected. The author has done a fine job of developing multiple social relationships that lead to an excellent starting point for discussions about friendships and child-parent relations.

Reader’s Annotation:
Antsy is just hanging out with his friends one afternoon throwing a dummy off the Marine Park Bridge and videotaping the fall. Inexplicably, the Schwa shows up and soon the friends hit on a way to make money through The Schwa’s ability to go unnoticed.

Author Information:
Grew up in Brooklyn, New York
Began writing when he was young
Attended junior high and high school at the American School of Mexico City
Attended the University of California, Irvine where he was a member of the swim team and also wrote a humor column
He holds degrees in psychology and drama
Shortly after graduating from college he negotiated a book deal and was hired to write a movie script
He lives in southern California and has four children
Currently his works include novels, screen plays, and television scripts
He has also directed two award-winning short films
His novels have received many awards:

Genre:
Contemporary realistic fiction – friendship

Curriculum Ties:
Use in literature classes

Booktalking Ideas:
The Schwa is a kid who is practically invisible, think of what you could do with a friend like that.

The Schwa is a nearly invisible kid whose friends conduct experiments to determine how far he can go without being noticed; for example: can he walk through airport security with an iron bar in his pocket, or, can he use the boys’ restroom wearing a Day-Glo orange sombrero and a costume from a school play and not be noticed.

Reading Level/Interest Age:
Ages 13-16

Additional Books by Author:
Antsy Does Time
Everlost
Everwild
Full Tilt: A Novel
Unwind

Challenge Issues:
Language
Deal with challenge by having a challenge policy in place, selection policy in place (ALA policies). Meet with library administration if necessary. Provide positive review(s) from professional publications.

Why this work is included in Peach’s Picks:
The book received a starred review in School Library Journal. This book is included because I read other books by Shusterman and enjoyed them so I thought I would read another. Three peaches are awarded because while it was an interesting concept with an ending that makes the reader stop and ponder, I found it rambling.

Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Schwa-Was-Here-Neal-Shusterman/dp/0525471820/ref=sr_1_1_oe_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273014642&sr=1-1

References:
Shusterman, N. (2010). “bio.” Neal Shusterman. Retrieved February, 2, 2010, from http://www.storyman.com/bio/