THE SCHWA WAS HERE by Neal Shusterman

A Good Lad, That Antsy.

This story is not an average case of Athazagoraphobia. Calvin Schwa is functionally invisible. He has to speak up before one can actually notice him standing inches from them. Get distracted for a minute or so, you’ll forget that he even exists. The Schwa Effect. That’s what they called it. Sometimes even his own father would forget to set a plate for him during dinner. It was really sad, and amazing at the same time. How can someone be cured of that?

Antsy Bonano had the greatest idea to put The Schwa effect to good use. But the idea turned on them and bit them on the ass. Apparently, some people are immune to The Schwa Effect, like the grouchy Mr. Crawley. Soon enough they are walking his dogs, all 14 of them.

I completely fell for Ansty after reading this. He is funny, witty, and really grounded. I like how he loves his family. They are not the quiet kind, but they sure are the loving kind.

Life is like a bad haircut. At first, it looks awful, then you kind of get used to it, and before you know it, it grows out and you gotta get another haircut that maybe won't be so bad unless of course, you keep going to SuperClips, where the hairstylists are so terrible they oughta be using safety scissors, and when they're done you look like your head got caught in a ceiling fan. So life goes on, good haircut, bad haircut until finally, you go bald, and it doesn't matter no more.

Neal Shusterman highlighted some relevant family issues. Some were presented lightheartedly, some were miserably inescapable. Some issues can make you think about how to treat others, how our choices may affect others, and some choices may simply define who we want to be. Great read. I simply wish more people would read this.

I mean, it's like we all get our raw materials from our families―but it's up to us whether we build bridges or bombs.

Thank you, Peter, for recommending this.

Book details:
Title: The Schwa Was Here
Author: Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Penguin Books and Dutton Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Rating: ★★★★