Things Not Seen is a novel by Andrew Clements. It was followed by two sequels.
In the first book, Bobby Phillips wakes up one day and finds that he has turned invisible. When he tells his parents, who are scientists, they are both amazed and terrified for him. An invisible boy would be the subject of government scrutiny. The Phillips team up with the Von Dorns, and their daughter Alicia, to cover for Bobby and find a cure.
Things Hoped For has a bright prodigy musician named Gwen who travels to New York to audition for college and spend time with her ailing grandfather. Only her grandfather is missing, and he leaves a note asking for her to cover for him. A chance encounter with Bobby Phillips may change the course of Gwen's life in a matter of days.
Things That Are focuses on Alicia, Bobby's friend, and later girlfriend. She is dealing with her mental health as Bobby goes to college, and she worries about people not seeing her as an independent woman. Then an old foe or friend — it depends on your perspective— appears and begs her for help.
Tropes for this include:
- Bait-and-Switch: It first seems that the cure didn't work, just as child services comes into the house with a search warrant. The agent finds Bobby's underwear, which he took off to become invisible, and notes that it's still warm. Then she looks at him. Bobby realizes that she can see him, and that it means the cure worked, his parents are saved.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Bobby finds the solution to becoming visible— sleeping with the electric blanket on a night with a heavy meteor shower— and saves his parents from getting arrested. He reassures Alicia that he likes her for who she is and not because she couldn't see him. Bobby also mails the blanket to Sheila, to give her the choice to become normal if she wishes.
- Going Commando: Bobby refers to it as "Greek Warrior Mode" by going completely naked outside so that no one sees him.
- Hero Antagonist: Child Protective Services and the police are concerned when Bobby goes missing for months. They worry that he ran away, was kidnapped, or his parents killed him, and open an investigation. The Phillips even admit that they would understand if the roles were reversed. They figure that going to jail is the better option than for their son to become a human guinea pig.
- Invisible Main Character: Who Just Woke Up That Way.
- Playing Sick: Bobby has to do this so no one finds out he's invisible. His parents help cover for him.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Bobby has to miss a few months of school due to being sick. His parents lie that he's gone to see an aunt in Florida. Even so, the cops and child services are worried that something happened to him and threaten to file for a search warrant. They end up arriving on the morning that he figures out how to reverse the process.
- Taking It Well: Bobby's parents are quite calm about the fact that their son is invisible and they have to keep it a secret. Then again, they are scientists.
- They Would Cut You Up: The Philips and Van Dorns cite this as the reason why Bobby can't come clean to the world about his invisible nature. Even if the Phillips are cleared for potential child abuse, they fear that Bobby would spend the rest of his life in a laboratory.
Tropes For Things Hoped For:
- Evil Brit: William is implied to be this, the way he intimidates Gwen and Bobby. Gwen mentions that he seems malicious, the way he demanded eggs.
- It's Personal: Bobby was actually fine with letting William go in peace and not bother him. Then William threatened him and Gwen, his new friend, in the middle of a traumatic situation. Bobby then coolly devises a plan to get the police to catch William to protect Gwen, and himself.
- Parting-Words Regret: Uncle Hank is rude and belligerent, demanding money from his brother to save his business. When he learns that his brother went into a freezer to die, he pales up and starts crying as the police tell him. Gwen forgives him, since she understands he was desperate and not truly greedy.
- Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Gwen's grandfather goes missing; he leaves her a note to tell her nothing is wrong, he just went out.Then she and Bobby find him in the house freezer, dead.
- Pet the Dog: William tells Gwen that he is sorry that she lost her grandfather. This is after intimidating her for some eggs.
- Police Are Useless: Subverted. When Gwen and Bobby call the cops and tell them about her grandfather being in the freezer, they come in record time, secure the situation, and keep Uncle Hank from barging in while demanding answers. They also are apologetic about investigating Gwen and Bobby for potential murder but merely order them to stay in town while the investigation is going on. When Bobby hints for them to find William, it seems the man was arrested.
Tropes for Things That Are:
- Bittersweet Ending: While Alicia and Bobby help out William, he drugs her dog when returning to normal. She's briefly angry about it, though at least her dog recovers, and is reassured that her relationship with Bobby is intact.
- Chekhov's Boomerang: The electric blanket. It turns out that when Bobby sent it to Sheila, along with instructions on how to become normal, she sent it back with an angry note about how she doesn't need his help. Bobby gives it to William, along with instructions on how to reverse the process.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Bobby asks, quite sincerely, why William tried threatening him to get the secret of turning normal instead of asking nicely. He would have helped, having been in the same spot. William admits he was scared and wasn't thinking straight.
- Crossing the Burnt Bridge: William tried threatening Bobby in the previous book for the cure. Here, he sincerely begs for help since the FBI is chasing him, and he does miss his family. Bobby and Alicia agree to help him on realizing this time his intents are sincere.
- A Day in the Limelight: This book focuses on Alicia, who was a prominent character in Things Not Seen and Demoted to Extra in Things Hoped For.
- Pet the Dog: While she did it angrily, saying she didn't want a cure, Sheila did mail back the blanket rather than tossing it away or destroying it.
