The Schwa was Here (Antsy Bonano, #1)

A comedic story about Antsy and his friendship with the Schwa - a kids who blends in so well people forget he exists. With a cast of zany characters and a series of improbable events, this story also has some completely straight and honest moments. It was good fun. The audiobook recording read by

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the author captures Antsy's voice very well, and I felt the city came alive beneath the words.

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When you want a weird book, you got it here. This is a strange combination of the bronx and finding who you truly are. Nuff said.

Eighth-grade Antsy (whose real name is Anthony) is fascinated by his classmate Calvin Schwa. The thing is - the Schwa is pretty much invisible to everyone. No one ever notices him. Now, what kind of trouble could you make if no one could see you? Well, that's what Antsy and the Schwa work on

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figuring out. This is a funny book. But it's more than that - these are real kids with real problems, too. Antsy's Brooklyn accent comes through loud and strong.

This is one of the California Young Reader Medal nominees for middle school. Worth reading!

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The Schwa Was Here appeals to a wide age range.The main character is a student somewhere around early high school or late middle school age. The book has interesting, quirky characters, and deals with the feeling everyone has had at some time or other—that you are invisible and no one notices

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that you exist.
The Schwa is like that. His full name is Calvin Schwa, and the narrator, Antonio Bonano, can’t remember when he first met him. He was sitting beside Antonio for months in science class before Antonio even noticed his existence.
Antonio and his friends decide to do a science experiment about the Schwa Effect. They find that four out of five people don’t see the Schwa in your standard classroom, that even acting weird and dressed like a total freak, the Schwa is only barely noticed, but that he cannot get through an airport metal detector with an iron bar in his pocket, even though the security guard won’t notice him until he sets off the alarm.
Antonio’s desire to capitalize on the Schwa Effect ends up getting them into trouble. They meet the recluse Old Man Crawley, and doing community service for him leads to both boys falling for his blind grandaughter.

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I liked parts of this book. It portrays modern nutty Brooklyn with nutty characters. A kid fades into the woodwork & then finds himself a bit. It had a feature that I hate, where there is a foreshadowing of something but what actually happens isn't nearly so bad as the foreshadowing says it will

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be.

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The schwa was here was a very good book. not really action packed but very adventerous and cool. a good and unique plot i thought.

Summary: The Schwa is a local legend. They say he's invisible his mother dissapeared and his father is apparentally crazy. But is the Schwa really invisible? And can they really break the so-called "unbreakable plastic"?
Review: An amazing read. Kinda feel bad for the Schwa and that was kinda mean

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of Lexi trying not to give either or the guys up!

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Neal Shustermans' almost allegorical tale of a teenage boy who 'disappears' works on many levels. Themes of teen disenfranchisement and adolescent awkwardness are enriched through a seemingly realistic yet surreal shaggy dog story. It is certainly one of the most entertaining and perceptive novels

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that I've read as a YA librarian in a middle school. I love this book!

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This story is about Anthony Bonano, a young boy who befriends a shy and "invisible" kids known as "the schwa". The two form a friendship and go on a lot of adventures together, until an unexpected surprise happens. After reading this novel I realized that it is inportant to not judge a book by its

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cover. This is one of my all time favorite books.

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A young man prides himself on being able to shrink into the background and being invisible amongst his classmates. He becomes so good at it that his peers begin to make a game of his innocuousness. During the game he develops a friendship with another boy, and the two of them begin to rely on the

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friendship. Eventually the Schwa begins to feel used and isn't always comfortable with this game, and eventually quits being invisible. This has a tremendous impact on the friendship and the life that the Schwa chooses to live.

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This was an easy read, which I appreciated. The text is funny and quick, allowing a reader to get through it in record time. Appropriately, given the subject matter, I doubt that I will think about this book a whole lot in the future. But especially as a good guys' read, it would be worthy of

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recommendation.

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Antsy Bonato is the narrator in this story about becoming visible. Calvin Schwa has the unique ability to blend in, he's "observationally challenged". After a moneymaking scheme involving a series of dares, the boys get caught and forced to do community service by Old Man Crawford.
At its heart the

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book is about seeing and being seen. I really liked Antsy's voice as the narrator. He was sassy and coming into his own. There was a great sense of humor in the writing and The Schwa was an enjoyable read.

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The Schwa was Here is a very funny and moving story. Shusterman ingeniously depicts the invisibility of the Schwa in a way that seems at once supernatural and totally real. All the characters are distinctive, from the quick-witted Ansty, to the curmudgeonly Mr. Crowley, to the wily Lexis, to the

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resignedly invisible Schwa. The Brooklyn dialect and humor makes the book a pleasure to read, and the conclusion offers hope to young teens that feel overlooked either at school or at home.

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This was a pretty good book with a great underlying theme. This would be a good book for middle school and high school students to read. It keeps the reader interested throughout the whole book and does not give away the ending while reading. This is a great story of friendship that stands the test

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of time.

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In Brooklynese, Antsy Bonano tells the story of his friend named, cleverly enough, Calvin Schwa. "The Schwa" is practically invisible until he waves in your face. But really, the story is about Antsy, and how he comes to terms with his own feelings of invisibility. There's a lot of

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all-over-the-board chaos, and character development is spotty in parts, but the story itself is fun, compelling, and mostly unpredictable.

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I loved The Schwa Was Here because it had such an interesting, meaningful story. It is told in the first person by an eighth grader in Brooklyn who meets someone named Calvin Schwa, and it turns out “The Schwa” sits next to him in class but he never noticed him. The Schwa is so unnoticeable

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that he seems to be invisible, but not really. Just like the “uh” sound symbolized by Ə, he seems to almost always be there but nobody realizes it.
There is a deeper story that develops gradually that looks at the relationships between the different characters and their families. I think many people can identify with the story, because it’s easy to feel “invisible” or unnoticed. This book takes that to an extreme, but maybe that’s what readers need to get the point. It’s funny and enjoyable to read, and the deeper message that gets you thinking is very subtle.

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Imagine my surprise when I picked up a Neal Shusterman book – Neal Shusterman of Unwind and the Skinjacker series – and found myself laughing more than I have during a book in a long time. Yet in the midst of all that laughter, there are moments of the deepest sincerity, too.
When Antsy realizes

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that Calvin, a/k/a the Schwa, is usually overlooked even when he’s standing right in front of someone, he’s intrigued and wants to know why. This leads to a course of experiments about what does and does not get the Schwa noticed. All of these experiments lead to a “job” that Antsy and the Schwa start together after school. Through the time they spend in their experiments and at their job, the two of them become close and Antsy wants to help the Schwa figure out the story behind how he became “observationally challenged”.
I loved every character in this book, from Antsy’s best friends to the possibly crazy butcher, and they each play an important role in the story. Mr. Crawley is perfect as the crotchety, agoraphobic shut-in. Lexie provides a sense of compassion, and teaches Antsy how to see things in a profound way. The Schwa’s dad is eerily detached from his son in a way that is disturbing to read.
At its core, this story is about feeling insignificant to the world. Although the story is hyperbolic, it works to make a point about how someone can feel completely surrounded yet completely alone at the same time. Antsy’s willingness to work against “the Schwa Effect” in order to help a new friend find peace – and to make sure he’s never really forgotten – gives the story its heart.

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When it comes down to it, we all just want to know that we matter. I found this a rather poignant and funny coming of age tale about a Brooklyn teen, Antsy (short for Anthony), the relatively unnoticed one in his family, and his friend, Calvin Schwa, who is seemingly invisible to most of the world.

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The themes of mattering as an individual, being recognized as an individual and not blending into the background or existing only as part of someone's else's life, abandonment, and overcoming abandonment--if possible--are explored here, woven into the story deftly and heartbreakingly. I think that most people would identify with something in this book, and with some people it should really hit a nerve.

Antsy feels that he is the overlooked glue holding his family together. Calvin feels that no one notices him. (Almost no one does in the story. Most people don't even see him, even if he wears garish costumes.) He struggles with overcoming this negative self worth after he, at age five, is (likely) abandoned by his lost and unnoticed mother in a supermarket. Lexi, a crush of both boys, is blind and struggles with most people being blind to the real her. Anthony's mother struggles to find herself after years of everything she does being a part of everyone else's life, but not her own. She finds she has "put all her eggs in one basket" and needs to have some other egg baskets for herself, so that she matters outside of living her family's life/needs everyday--which really resounded with me, as I suspect it would with many other full-time moms.

In sum, another well-written book by Shusterman, with colorful, real characters, smart dialogue and fresh humor.

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A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.

For Readers:

Have you ever felt like no one would notice if you were gone? Well, don't worry, I'm sure lots of people would notice if YOU disappeared, but imagine if no one, not your father, not your best friend, not your teachers, ever realized whether you were around or not. That is the plight of

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the Schwa, a mysterious boy who befriends the narrator, Antsy. The Schwa is nearly invisble; people just don't seem to notice him, ever. Until Antsy becomes his buddy. Then the Schwa and Antsy decide to embark on a mission to get the Schwa noticed, and they meet some pretty crazy people on the way.

This book is hilarious, first of all. Plus, it's pretty unique-it's kind of a little bit magical (here's a literary term for you: magical realism) but still true to life. I think it's a pretty universal feeling--to think that, at one point or another, no one really sees you--but Shusterman deals with it in a way that no other author ever has.

Who would like this book: anyone who has ever wondered if anyone really knows them, kids who like funny funny books.

For Educators and Librarians:

This is my first Shusterman novel, and I loved it. The characters are totally unique and believable and funny. I could totally identify with the Schwa and Antsy, and I couldn't wait to hear more about their adventures together. Kids will enjoy the rollicking narrative and fresh prose, as well as the crazy cast of Brooklyn characters. Great book.

Reading level: 10+
Appropriateness: Fine, nothing to really worry about
Who would like this book: kids who like realistic, funny fiction with a twist

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Antsy Bonano and Cal

While most of us probably don't have acqaintances who have perfected the art of fading into the background like Calvin Schwa, this story of his friendship with Antsy will speak to many teenagers who feel unnoticed. The audio version, read by the author, is a delight to listen to. Give this to

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middle school students who like their humor offbeat, their characters quirky, and a story that leaves plenty to think about at the end.

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Meh. Forgettable. The whole point is that the Schwa is so unremarkable that he disappears under the radar. I feel the same could be said of this book.

I have read a lot of Shusterman books and this is definitely a turn from his norm. The Schwa was Here is realistic fiction, at least I think that is where it fits in. He said he wrote this story after presenting at a school where during the Q & A, the teacher suggested he call on a quiet boy with

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his hand raised. She said he had his hand up the whole time and Neal thought to himself, that he had not even noticet the boy. The Schwa is a teen boy who is overlooked by parents, peers, teacher and people on the street. Half the time the teacher doesn't even mark him present or absent in school. to be continued...

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