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Booktalk
#1
Anthony Bonano, or Antsy to
those who know him, is your typical 8th grader living in Brooklyn. Antsy’s
father works for a plastics company and frequently brings home new products
for him to “try out” by seeing how indestructible they are. One fateful
day while trying to destroy a mannequin with his friends, Antsy finally
notices the kid they call the “Schwa” who he didn’t even know sat next
to him him all year in science class. Calvin Schwa goes so unnoticed that
he is pretty much functionally invisible. Antsy and his friends decide
to run a series of experiments they call the Schwa Effect to see just how
unnoticeable the Schwa is. In one experiment, the Schwa wears a cat costume,
a sombrero and sings “God Bless America” at the top of his lungs in the
boys bathroom. After these experiments Antsy and the Schwa become business
partners as they arrange bets with other students to dare the Schwa to
go unnoticed in various places or take things and put them back without
being seen. But now Antsy may have gone too far with a dare for the Schwa
to go into Old Man Crawley’s and retrieve one of the dog dishes from his
fourteen reportedly vicious Afghan Hounds. When Crawley turns out to be
much more observant than Antsy and the Schwa counted on, they are in for
a punishment that is more than they bargained for. (Shawn Crosby,
Des Moines Library, Des Moines, WA)
Booktalk #2
How many of you have classmates
that are there everyday, but nobody notices them, no one remembers them,
it is as if they were invisible. Calvin Schwa is notoriously invisible.
He so badly wants to be noticed and jumps at the suggestion of Anthony
“Antsy” Botano, who wants to make the Schwa’s invisibility, which he calls
the “Schwa Effect” into a money making venture. At first successful, their
last venture forces them into servitude for old man Crawley, a rich recluse
that uses his power and influence to get his way. Their job is to walk
Crawley’s fourteen Afghans, named after the seven virtues and seven sins,
daily. A relationship grows between Antsy, the Schwa, and old man Crawley.
Crawley assigns them a second task - to entertain Lexie Crawley’s
visiting blind granddaughter. The friendship between the four characters
becomes strong and influences change in their lives. Funny yet heartwarming,
the Schwa’s story will at once make you feel guilty about all those classmates
you allowed to disappear, and at the same time force you to start taking
notice of those that you see everyday. (Mark Bobrosky, LMT, Walter
Reed Middle School, Los Angeles Unified School District)
Booktalk #3
Antsy and his friends use Calvin
Schwa’s ability to go unnoticed for their own monetary gain. The boys call
this the “Schwa effect” and dare Calvin to appear out of nowhere in order
to fool their classmates and teachers. When someone places a bet that dares
the Schwa to break into the apartment of the town hermit, Mr. Crawley,
the boys are finally caught. Their punishment is to walk his dogs and to
take his visually-impaired granddaughter out on a date. Underneath the
humor and joking of male adolescents lies a boy who longs to fit in and
be noticed. (Jean B. Bellavance for Pennsylvania
Young Reader's Choice Awards, 2006-2007)
Booktalk #4
Anthony, also known as "Antsy,"
is fascinated by "The Schwa Effect"--the fact that no one ever sees Calvin
Schwa. Even when acting weird and dressed like a total freak, The Schwa
is only barely noticed. The two boys form a partnership and get away with
all kinds of mischief, from conducting experiments at school to confounding
opponents on the basketball court. When The Schwa senses that even Antsy
is beginning to lose sight of him, he vows to do something that will make
him so visible, no one will ever forget him. Any kid who's ever felt unnoticed
will identify with Schwa and Antsy and their quest for notoriety.
(Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award
2008) |
