The Amanda Project: Invisible I by Melissa Kantor

Who is Amanda Valentino, really? Callie thought she knew, until the day after she disappeared. Amanda made her feel like Callie was her only friend...but it turns out she made Hal and Nia feel that way too. Callie didn't even know that Amanda HAD other friends until all three of them are called into the principal's office. It seems pretty clear that all three of them are surprised that they are not Amanda's sole friend.

After they get over the initial shock, they decide to team up and look for her. It turns out that many of the things they thought they knew about Amanda were lies, like where she lived...but she keeps leaving them clues which make them even more anxious to find her.

Most mysterious of all is the envelope of money that Callie finds, the exact amount needed to make the house payment, and save her house. Since her mom disappeared, Callie's dad has been falling deeper into depression, and she was really worried about losing the house. Where did the money come from? Did Amanda steal it?!

As Callie, Hal, and Nia get closer, they learn what Amanda wanted for them most of all was for them to be friends. They find clues in unlikely places, and even set up a website so other Amanda fans can contribute.

This is one of the first interactive novels that truly incorporates the text into an online experience. Fans can read up on new clues every week, post ideas that may be incorporated into the story line, and submit original writings or drawings for the site's zine. What a great way to keep kids interested in a story! HarperTeen also has plans for 7 more titles after this first book.

"On the paper was a collage of drawings of plans and pieces of plants intertwining and forming a border around a quote written in large, beautifully calligraphed letters, which read: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Underneath, in Amanda's bold script, it said: The quote is from Edmund Burke, but the drawings are all Beatrix Potter's. Like Beatrix (Beatrice, Bellatrix), we warriors fall, but so too do we rise," (Kantor pg. 200, 2009).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
Confessions of a Not It Girl by Melissa Kantor
Paper Towns by John Green
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Kantor, Melissa. (2009). The Amanda Project: Invisible I. HarperTeen: New York, NY.