Invisible Lines

This is a great story with an imagination one could only hope to have. The art graphics are wonderful and amusing. The best of reading for all up to 80 years old.

INVISIBLE LINES surprised and delighted me with its compelling voice, age-appropriate humor, and heartfelt story line. This is a true middle-grade winner that deserves to be read by everyone! To start, Mary Amato slips easily into the voice of a seventh-grade boy. Trevor makes all the funny comments that we wished we could've made in middle school to be well-liked, and yet he does everything without the least hint of malice. He is genuinely compassionate with his brother and sister (both of whom have lively and memorable personalities of their own) while simultaneously having the typical adolescent concerns about being accepted, having the right friends, and owning brand names. Every component of this novel is well put together, from fully fleshed-out characters to the science lessons on mushrooms to the bumps in Trevor's relationships with his new friends and family. Parents will want their sons to be like Trevor, while younger readers will clamor to be Trevor's friend. This is the first of Mary Amato's books that I've read, but with the quality and cohesiveness of INVISIBLE LINES, I know it won't be my last!

Even with the odds stacked against him, Trevor Musgrove proves that determination and a sense of humor can work wonders. Moving to a new school has its challenges. Trevor, his mother, and his two younger siblings are moving into a new apartment. It is a pretty crappy place with smelly hallways, broken elevators, and a definite criminal element. Unfortunately, it's all they can afford. All three kids wear secondhand clothes and sleep on mattresses from a place called Save the Children. Trevor's mom works two jobs and that leaves him babysitting the two younger kids when he'd rather be playing soccer and hanging out with his new friends. School could offer a breath of fresh air for Trevor. The kids from his underprivileged neighborhood attend school along with a bunch of rich kids from a different part of town. Trevor discovers himself in a science class for gifted kids in something known as the Summit program. At first he is worried about not making the grade, but once he meets the unusual teacher and starts learning amazing things about mushrooms, he finds out learning is fun and easier than he ever imagined. A big soccer fan, Trevor also finds he has a chance to try out for an elite traveling soccer league. When he mentions it to his overworked mother, she immediately says no way. "Too expensive" and "who will babysit while she has to work" are her reasons for saying no, but Trevor doesn't give up easily. He secretly attends the tryouts and gets a place on the team. It sounds like good news, but that's when everything else begins to go wrong. INVISIBLE LINES by Mary Amato is a fast-paced story of one boy and his fight to help his family, make his mother proud, and meet the challenges of an accelerated program. Amato combines soccer, art, and science in a tale that will grab readers on page one. Aimed at a middle grade audience, INVISIBLE LINES is excellent for independent reading or for use with a group. The characters are typical middle school students in situations that will provide discussion material as well as entertainment. Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

When Trevor moves to Deadly Gardens, it's the last place he wants to be. But school isn't that bad, when he befriends two of the most popular boys in his class, Langly and Xander. He also befriends a few other students. Everything seems to be going Trev's way, until his soccer skills puts him on Xander's bad side. Trevor's just like any other kid, he wants to fit in. It's a little bit harder though, because his mother is struggling to make ends meet, especially when she has three kids. Trev is loving school, though, especially his Summit Science class, with the kooky Mr. Ferguson. The characters are written perfectly (I could honestly see some resemblences to people I went to school with). This novel makes me breathe a sigh of relief that novels with a good message are being written for kids/pre-teens. I know when I wish in the Middle Grade stage, I just read YA because I felt that I was getting more than I was from the MG (Middle Grade) novels I read back in the day. Highlights: Invisible Lines really dives into a few topics that most MG novels would shy away from. Violence, theft, and abandonment. It was interesting to see Trevor's reaction to all of these as the story unwound. Mary Amato really captured Trevor's voice in this story, and I felt connected to him. Also, the journal entries were fun to read and the art is beautiful. Trevor's love for art and soccer was endearing, and nice to read about. Lowlights: Trevor's ambition to fit in. It just had me cringing throughout the story. Also, I felt I knew the end result when I was only fifty pages in (which might be due to the fact that I've read so many stories).

With his dad in jail, Trevor and his mom and siblings have experienced tough times trying to make ends meet. Having to move into the Hedley Gardens housing project, otherwise known as Deadly Gardens, certainly represented a big set-back. Despite the hardships his family faced, Trevor felt determined to have a good year, and he would draw on all his talents to make that happen at his new school. As quick on his feet as he was with his tongue, Trevor earned a spot on the soccer team, and his sense of humor made him a hit with the classmates he most wanted to impress. But Trevor struggled to meet the expectations placed on him to do his schoolwork, play on the team, and babysit for his siblings while his mom looked for work. Adding to the stress were issues brought on by class differences: the school's location in a wealthy neighborhood meant tensions between the students from Deadly Gardens and the rich kids, as well as expectations of purchasing expensive school and sports supplies that Trevor's mom could ill afford. Invisible Lines is an outstanding book that takes a child's eye view to a number of social problems not commonly addressed in youth novels, including domestic violence, child abandonment, and theft. The main character's sense of humor and elaborate sketches add a refreshingly light touch, while his experiences on the soccer field and in the science classroom add to the excitement. With an interesting story wrapped around important lessons about class, this book should have a broad appeal.