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Invisible: A Graphic Novel

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For fans of Twins and Allergic, a must-have graphic novel about five very different students who are forced together by their school to complete community service... and may just have more in common than they thought.

How can you be yourself when no one sees the real you?

Five students meet in the school cafeteria when they’re forced to complete their school community service hours.

There’s George: the brain

Sara: the loner

Dayara: the tough kid

Nico: the rich kid

They immediately know that they have nothing in common with each other... even though their school administration has decided that they all belong together.

None of the kids wants to be there, and each has their own issues they're dealing with in their life outside of school. But when they encounter someone who truly needs their help, they might just be able to come together to work as a team—and help their community—after all.

Christina Diaz Gonzalez, award-winning author of The Red Umbrella, and Gaby Epstein, illustrator of the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel adaptations, have created a vibrant and relatable graphic novel about unexpected friendships and being seen for who you really are.

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2022

621 people are currently reading
4294 people want to read

About the author

Christina Diaz Gonzalez

14 books319 followers
Christina Diaz Gonzalez is the Edgar® award-winning author of several books including The Red Umbrella, A Thunderous Whisper, the Moving Target duology, Stormspeaker, Concealed, and two upcoming books, Invisible (a graphic novel available in August 2022) and The Bluest Sky (a historical fiction novel available in September 2022). Her books have received numerous honors including the Florida Book Award, the Nebraska Book Award, and the International Latino Book Award. Her work has also been designated as an American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults selection, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection, and as an International Reading Association's Teachers' Choice book. Christina currently lives in Miami, Florida with her husband, sons, and a dog that can open doors. Learn more at www.christinagonzalez.com

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5 stars
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3 stars
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104 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 793 reviews
Profile Image for Scottsdale Public Library.
3,524 reviews471 followers
March 22, 2023
Invisible is a one of the best middle grade graphic novels I've read. Five students are put together for a community service project- a group that the principal formed because the students all speak Spanish. Each of the characters takes a turn narrating the story, so readers get to know each character a lot deeper, and of course learn that there is more to each student than just their home language. The shifting narrators throughout the story is really well done and an effective way to allow readers a window into each of their lives.

The story was interesting and not a typical school story (bullying, fitting in, friendship), coming of age, or slice of life tale. In a way, it is all of those, with a connecting storyline. There is character growth in the story, and it is a good read for youth and adults. For the adults, it may just leave you feeling better about middle school students (if you had any stereotypical complaints to begin with).

The bilingual text was integrated well, but it should be noted that only the Spanish text is translated to English. (The English is not translated to Spanish, so this is not a truly bilingual book.) – Diana F.
Profile Image for Carmen.
2,042 reviews2,418 followers
September 23, 2022
"Well, did you all come together because you're all... um... mexicanos?"

MIGUEL: "Increíble. Parece que este tipo piensa que todos somos mexicanos." (Incredible. This guy thinks we're all Mexicans.)
pg. 7



This is a Breakfast-Club-Style book. It's about a group of 8th-graders who are voluntold into community service before school, working for the mean Mrs. Grouser. It basically revolves around picking up trash and maybe some menial kitchen duties.

Our five kids are all different: George (his name's Jorge, but he goes by George - the other kids accuse him of thinking he's white) who is a Puerto Rican who speaks great English but whose Spanish is pretty lousy. He's kind of undercover because his family is no longer in district, so he and his baby sister can't tell anyone about it because he wants to get into a Magnet Program. He and his family might be living out of a motel.

Sara is a Mexican with pink hair, she's very quiet and desperate for friends. She speaks English, but is so quiet few people know this. She lives with her dad (who is an architect) and cooks for him, but misses her mom and brothers who are still in Mexico.

Dayara is an angry little Cuban girl who does poorly in school, her English is terrible, and it's hinted that she has dyslexia. She's the one most likely to lash out. She's convinced she's terrible at school and that there's no future for her. Her mom's a mechanic and her daddy's an air traffic controller.

Nico is the rich boy from Venezuela. Everyone thinks he's stuck up and egotistical and lazy. But he's got a lot of problems, I mean... his parents are in Venezuela. He lives with his great-aunt and worries about his family's precarious situation in Venezuela.

Lastly, we have Miguel. He's Dominican. He loves drawing and is pretty good at it, but his parents discourage him from doing it, saying it's a waste of time. He has three little sisters.



The plot of the book involves the five kids learning more about each other and becoming friends slowly, as well as noticing a woman and her little daughter living out of a van in a field behind the school. The kids are good-hearted and want to help her, but the world (and Mrs. Grouser) and out to get them. When they give her food that was going to get thrown out, they get scolded - when they give her new food they get accused of stealing it, Grouser doesn't let them go outside on the day .

Racism is touched on in this book, but it's not too heavy-handed. We have the guy who assumes all the Latino kids are Mexican, we have Grouser, who treats the kids like idiots and free labor, and we have George, who refuses to go by Jorge and is willing to give up his homework to copy in order to make 'friends' and fit in with the other kids. Classism also, a bit.

Are the kids going to get to help the woman in the van? Or will they get punished for trying to help her? Will she get in trouble if anyone finds out about her and her daughter?

My only complaint about the book is that we don't go into the kids individual stories. I would like to know more about the characters and their lives. We only scratch the surface with these kids. If the book had better character development, I'd give it a five. As it stands, it's only getting a four from me.

TL;DR Great book for elementary-aged kids. Spanish-speaking, Spanish-reading or not. Every Spanish word bubble is accompanied by an English one, so no problem for kids who can't read Spanish.

Interesting look at some Latino cultures and some issues facing kids today in school - Latino or not. Kind of in the vein of Raina Telgemeier in both the plot ideas and the illustrations, although I think Telgemeier has stronger characters. I would recommend it to kids and parents.

NAMES IN THIS BOOK:
Profile Image for Fatma Al Zahraa Yehia.
600 reviews969 followers
December 10, 2023
Two and half stars
A great premise about accepting others as they are and not judging anyone without having to know them. It also represents the possibility of changing this world to the best by doing simple acts of kindness.

The story had really great messages that should be taught to children nowadays by portraying kids with different kinds of emotional, economical and educational struggles, And how everyone of them learned accepting himself and accepting others.

Another great thing about this story is giving the space to a second language "Spanish" in order to make it easier to read to Hispanic readers who are still struggling with reading English. It was a new experience that I wish could be later extended to other languages.

But I think the characters were lacking some depth and needed either lessened in their number, or had more space to get their personalities enough time to develop. the plot itself was kind of rushed.

The beginning and the end themselves weren't logical to me. You have scared a group of five kids to death by having them called to the principal office and thought that they are in trouble, just to turn out at the end that they wanted to give them an award??? Are we in a candid camera show?

As I always say, my perspective of a children's story as a grown-up is sure different from a child's. But still, I wish it could have been better that that.
Profile Image for Bookishrealm.
3,241 reviews6,405 followers
December 24, 2022
If you haven't noticed, I've been reading quite a few middle grade graphic novels and after reading a little bit about Invisible I decided to give it a try.

Invisible follows five students who were made to do community service to fulfill the principal's wishes that every student in the school participate in some type of service based activity. What's most interesting about this book is that at the beginning of the graphic novel, readers will notice that the students are being interviewed by the principal and another man. However, readers don't know what's transpired or why they are being interviewed. The story is then told from the perspective of each student as they volunteer in the cafeteria. Through each page, readers learn more about what led to them being to the interview.

Before I even dive into the various things that I enjoyed about this graphic novel, I need to say that I absolutely loved the artwork. Gabriela Epstein has done work for the Baby-sitters Club graphic novel series and she brought the same energy and beauty to this work. The personalities of each character were captured so well through the artwork. Every thought and every emotion were clearly and beautifully illustrated.

There were two elements that I enjoyed greatly about this graphic novel. I know that adults of marginalized communities often talk about not being a monolith, but it was so nice seeing that illustrated and discussed in a middle grade book. The cafeteria worker who supervises the students makes a discriminatory remake assuming that each one of the students is Mexican. It is a blatant and racist assumption that the students are the same and don't have individual experiences. Gonzalez explicitly illustrates that even though all of the students are Latine, it does not mean that they are all same or share the same experiences. I also enjoyed that this book was bilingual. The speech bubbles from the students were both in English and Spanish. To be honest, I'm not sure that I've seen a middle grade bilingual graphic novel outside of this one.

Overall, this was a run read. And it definitely hits the nail on the head with the concept and idea of windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors.
Profile Image for Christie.
152 reviews2 followers
March 20, 2022
The whole time I was reading Invisible I found myself thinking "this definitely has a Breakfast Club vibe". I was happy to see that acknowledged toward the end as well when a character describes the students and the situation as a "real-life Breakfast Club." That totally came across and was appreciated.

I loved the way the book had the word bubbles with a solid line for the actual speaking and dashed lines for the translation, and that it was done in both directions from Spanish-English and English-Spanish. Not only will this book speak to visual learners and ESL students with it's illustrations, but it will also reach them via the bilingual text. Having the representation of characters from a variety of backgrounds and the language all incorporated makes this story even stronger and so, so special. Gonzalez and Epstein make it clear of the impact and meaningfulness in their respective author's note and illustrator's note.

It also will be beneficial for readers who speak English as their first language and are learning Spanish.

This book does a fantastic job highlighting what it's like to feel invisible or not seen accurately. It tackles homelessness, language barriers, lumping people together rather than seeing people as individuals, the detriment of stereotypes and the power of service to our communities and helping those around us.

This is a graphic novel that will make a whole lot of people feel less invisible, and likely will inspire people to seek to see and understand others for who they are in their entirety as well.

#LitReviewCrew
So thankful to have an advanced copy of this sent to us by Christina Diaz Gonzalez.
Profile Image for Ms. B.
3,749 reviews74 followers
September 15, 2024
9/14/24 Edited to include the last sentence, 'Tweens and teens can make a difference!'
4/21/23 A breakfast time Breakfast Club. Five latinix students bond when they are partnered up to help in their school's cafeteria for reasons unknown. This is a heartwarming read about standing up for others and making the world a better place. Give this to graphic novel fans and those who like feel good stories. Tweens and teens can make a difference!
Profile Image for Starr ❇✌❇.
1,731 reviews161 followers
August 15, 2022
I can definitely see the "Latine Breakfast Club" inspiration here. This is a fairly simple book of kids trying to help their community how they can, and a reflection of the Danger of a Single Story. I also appreciated that this book is multilingual, and the way that that was visualized. It made it easy for me, someone who cannot speak Spanish, to read the translations while it also placed the original Spanish dialogue front and center every time is came up. After reading the author notes in the back, I like that decision even more. This book was just a little too simple for me, personally, because it was difficult to give so many characters impaful stories in such a short time so their arcs didn't feel complete, but as a middlegrade graphic novel and a multilingual story of unity, it definitely works.
Profile Image for Katie.
959 reviews
December 15, 2022
I love that this book is bilingual because there is a definite need for bilingual graphic novels. The story felt very disjointed, didn’t have a good flow and just didn’t make sense most of the time. I didn’t like how many of the adults at the school were portrayed. I wanted so much more from this book than I got. Very interested to get student feedback on this book.
1,152 reviews13 followers
December 6, 2022
This graphic novel is about 5 Latino kids who are put together for a community service project. The cafeteria woman is very mean to them. While working in the cafeteria, they spot a homeless woman and help her. Accused of stealing food, they get in trouble, but happy ending for all.
Profile Image for Hilda.
1,310 reviews288 followers
December 6, 2022
Students like you.


There was so much racism in the way these kids were talked to and about. The way adults in power "Spoke" to them. Mrs. Grouser the cafeteria worker in charge of them did it all the time when she tried to speak to them in Spanish but instead would yell out her made up Spanish.

"A - TEN - ZION- AY!"
"Me... Mrs. Grouser. The boss. El Boss-O."
"Don't know why I always get stuck with all the problem kids."

But when one of the kids decides to make fun of her by saying, "Me ready to work... Sra. Grosera." (grocera means rude or nasty in Spanish) she responds by saying, "Ugh. Can't even pronounce a simple name." Even though she continuously mispronounces their names and language.

There are many more examples and these kids just took it. I would love to see more books in the series of them working together to overcome these social issues. I loved how they came together to help that family in need. They were so brave and willing to get in trouble if it meant they could help make a difference. I loved the side stories when they went home and spent time with family. Those times were small but so full of love and expectations of a first/second generation immigrant. *First generation refers to those who are foreign born. The second generation refers to those with at least one foreign-born parent.* These kids were a mix of first an second generation and family expectations were already super high. They were expected to not only learn English but come home and teach their older relatives.

It was a very good story and I loved how this Breakfast Club type scenario played out. I need more books in the series!

My only complaint was that a lot of the school staff members were so mean to the kids. There was one teacher who was kind and understanding. But the rest were so mean and I would hate going to that school if I were them. I wish they had more caring adults at school.
95 reviews
July 26, 2025
So cute, the characters were great, there were just a couple things I wish were explored more (what happened to them after? Are they real friends now? What happened with Dayara's academic struggles?) but the story was really good and I liked the way they translated the Spanish.
Profile Image for Falen.
9 reviews25 followers
November 14, 2024
Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez & Gabriela Epstein
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: George, Sara, Dayara, Nico and Miguel are all very different kiddos, but when they’re forced to complete their community service hours, Mrs. Groucher just assumes one thing: they’re all troublesome children who speak Spanish. (Bruja 🙄)

So what do you do when you’re stuck with other students who you normally don’t hang out with, but are forced to and you all find someone in need?

You team up together to cause good trouble, that’s what!

I absolutely LOVED this graphic novel. The bilingual dialogue, the art and the storyline was amazing and heartwarming 🫶🏾

Quote: “so, a real life breakfast club was formed when five very different kids were thrust together and ended up helping someone in our community”

Graphic novels will always have a special place in my heart 🙂‍↕️💥
Profile Image for Mrs Heidrich.
800 reviews35 followers
July 5, 2022
Wow! I could go on and on about this one! It's set up as a "Breakfast Club" idea with a group of kids who don't all seem to belong together, but are doing school community service and end up helping more than the school and even themselves. Love all the Spanish and the role that plays in the story and the connection between characters. Cleverly told story where all the characters get a chance at telling the story, which gives insight not only in the main story itself, but also into each of them. This is definitely one to read! Get it when you can! Kids are going to love this one!
Profile Image for Michele Knott.
4,201 reviews206 followers
July 6, 2022
A modernized and middle grade Breakfast Club that addresses an important topic for today. Told in English and Spanish, this graphic novel reaches across language for a truly unique reading experience.
Profile Image for Becky Ransberger.
89 reviews8 followers
December 22, 2022
Hope this turns into a series because I’m so invested in how the characters home life stories turned out! Loved this graphic novel.
Profile Image for Hugh Mcdonald.
299 reviews7 followers
December 31, 2022
I loved this quick read middle grade graphic novel about identity, friendship, & supporting others in their community. It’s a beautiful book! #McDReads
Profile Image for Susan.
1,307 reviews
September 11, 2023
This is a heartwarming middle grade graphic novel about 5 middle school children thrown together to do community service. They have nothing in common and initially dislike each other but they find commonality of purpose and begin to see each other differently. I credit my Lit Society crew with giving me the impetus to read this.
Profile Image for Tammy.
523 reviews
May 3, 2023
When I first saw this I just thought it would be a cute middle grade graphic novel. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it has a ton of Spanish dialogue (which is translated into English if you don't know Spanish) which made it extra fun to read.
Profile Image for laureads.
31 reviews
July 12, 2023
i went in blind and this was a really sweet story! i really like how the story used both english and spanish, it’s nice to have both (even for a spanish beginner like me)
4 stars not 5 because i found the ending a bit rushed tho
Profile Image for Matt Orbell.
26 reviews
April 28, 2025
I rented "Invisible" and read it for 2 two reasons, 1) because it won the community book award from I'm your neighbor and 2) after reading the description on the back of it, it is SO relatable to my HS students. The story is essentially a school appropriate and updated breakfast club. We have a Brainiac (Jorge), a loaner (Sara), a bad-ass (Dayara), a rich kid (Nico), and an athlete (Miguel). Their goal? Learn to work with one another to complete their required school community service project! Each character has their own individual challenges that they learn to embrace in order to help someone in need! This book was such a fun page turner and every student would be able to identify with someone from the book to cling to and lean from. It really does help give a peek into each of the characters windows as discussed in class. I could totally see this being a great read as apart of a beginning of the year "Get to know you/class expectations" unit. It would help our kiddo's see that we can all be inherently different but learn from one another in a respectful way!
Profile Image for Eileen.
2,400 reviews136 followers
October 11, 2023
An amazing graphic novel about being the invisible kids

I loved this graphic novel and read it all in one sitting when I probably should have gone to bed. But it was worth it! I loved this “Breakfast Club” type story about 5 Latinx kids who were put together in school for enforced community service because “they’re the same”. They speak varying amounts of English and Spanish, and the only thing that unites them when they meet are how much they dislike the woman in charge of their community service. I absolutely loved the story line and what ended up uniting them, even as they discovered ways to connect with and encourage each other. I also loved the uniqueness of including Spanish and English side by side so that I could read and interpret the Spanish first and then check my understanding of the words. It’s a great novel for people who are trying to learn either language. But it’s also just a great story that made me tear up at the end. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Kaci Kennedy.
534 reviews13 followers
April 15, 2025
Another book the 8 year old and 10 year old were so excited to share with me. They loved that the story was told from five different perspectives.

After reflecting on this book even more, as an adult I really love that this book incorporates Spanish and English throughout in a creative and accessible way. I love that it presents five Spanish speaking students as unique individuals with vastly different stories.
Profile Image for Jill.
990 reviews
November 12, 2023
3.5 stars

I thought this was well done. The adults were a little one dimensional and stereotypical "know it all and you're wrong". I like the concept of having it written in both Spanish and English. The kids in my school will really like this one.
Profile Image for Kim.
294 reviews
November 20, 2023
This is a great middle grade graphic novel with a Breakfast Club - style storyline. I love the theme of “we’re different, we’re the same” and the way they worked together to do something good made me tear up at the end.
Profile Image for Jesse.
2,761 reviews
March 9, 2025
Five kids band together to help someone, but have to fight against prejudice and an evil lunch lady every step of the way. I liked the story, but wished for more resolution for each of the kids. Recommended to me by a kiddo in my Bookworms book club for our next group read.
Profile Image for Nora Graf.
11 reviews1 follower
September 21, 2024
This book was sooo good and had an amazing story behind it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved that the kids helped the woman it is so great I defiantly recommend reading this book!!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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