From the title alone I had expected a comedy novel full of hi-jinks and amusing anecdotes. While there are light-hearted moments, such as when Ethel pretends to be a ghost to avoid being detected by a classmate, author Ross Welford creates a much deeper and more complex plot about the struggles of family, friendship, secrets and lies, and the struggles of navigating teenage life at secondary school.

January 2017 Book of the Month | In a nutshell: invisible girl finds herself in the spotlight |Ross Welford is making a habit of putting his characters in unusual situations: the star of his prize-shortlisted debut went time travelling, while Ethel, his new central character, unexpectedly becomes invisible, thanks to a mysterious Chinese herbal medicine and a second hand sun bed. Welford properly examines the impact of this invisibility on Ethel and, with one notable exception, the story is low on practical jokes, and high on the terrifying prospect of never being seen again. Ethel has other things to deal with too, including untangling family secrets to discover who she really is. In all this, she’s helped by new friend the irrepressible Boydy, who is determined to turn a spotlight on the situation – literally. Funny, touching and thoroughly original, Welford crafts another absorbing real-life adventure out of an extraordinary set-up. ~ Andrea Reece The first is a leopard, the second is a giraffe, the third is a snow-white bird. Even when you know what to look for they are hard to spot! Frustratingly, so far true invisibility – both for objects and people – remains in the realms of fiction.

I don’t know how long I’m sitting there, just looking again and again at where I should be. It’s several seconds, but probably not as long as a minute. I’m going through things in my mind, like: Has this happened before? Is this in any way normal? Is it my eyes--have I been temporarily blinded by the strong UV light? Except I can see other things--just not me. The main character in the book is a girl this time – 12 year-old Ethel Leatherhead; yes, it is an unusually old-fashioned name, but that is significant. Ethel lives with her ‘Gram’, a very conservative, very proper lady who has strong views about things that are ‘common’ or undesirable. We learn that Ethel’s mother died when she was young, and that she is not aware of her father. Ethel also has a great-grandmother, who turns 100 in the course of the novel. Great-gram lives in a nursing home and speaks very little until one day, after Ethel visits her, she grabs her by the arm and says to Ethel, rather mysteriously, “Tiger. Pussycat.”

The other characters are also nicely done, especially the twins. The only bad thing about them is their names ("Jarrow"?? Seriously?! And you named the dog "Lady"?!), which I can't really blame Ross Welford for. Now turn it round and examine the other side. This is exactly what I was doing a few seconds ago, only my hand wasn’t--isn’t--there. Ethel lives with her grandmother, is plagued by terrible acne and has become the unwilling friend of new boy Elliot (Smelliot) from London. When Ethel discovers she has the ability to become invisible via her new skin treatment and the generous application of UV light, her life suddenly becomes a lot more complicated. Los personajes son todos muy profundos y están muy bien desarrollados. Ethel es una chica muy dulce y algo solitaria que vive con su abuela, y poco a poco iremos descubriendo quién es ella. También encontramos a Boydy, un chico introvertido con quien Ethel hará amistad. Ambos se complementan muy bien y es fácil sentir empatía por ellos.Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. The negatives, I found myself tuning out in places. Mainly, I was a bit baffled by the emotional turn towards the end. She found out about her parents' identity and felt betrayed it had been kept secret from her. She ends up run over by a car because she was running while invisible. I was just baffled that the book turned towards that direction. I mean the author can write whatever they want but the emotional turn was a bit weak. It doesn't really deliver any punch. Whimsy is all good but I felt like the book needed that one thing to really cement that it is a good book. What I quite liked was that we finally get a description of the main character, even if it's quite late in the book. What got on my nerves was how I never knew what Al looked like in Time Travelling with a Hamster. Here we get a small description. The description of Ethel's not much (hair colour, eye colour), but it's enough. It's more than we get of Al in his debut book.

In case you were wondering: Yes, it does have references to Time Travelling with a Hamster. Once again, it's set near Culvercot, and there are even a few trips to Culvercot bay. I caught 3 references (one with a spelling "mistake"(?), as it was a name, one thing that was a small detail in TTWAH (and an even smaller detail in WNTDIYTI), and one that just mentioned the same sliproad from TTWAH. The one at the bay - if you've read it you'll know which one I mean.) These are all very minor details, though, and they're not important in the slightest to the plot. Anyway, the doubts were necessarily momentary as I had a contract to fulfill with HarperCollins and – in hindsight – the problem was not that I couldn’t think of a story to write, but that the initial, enthusiastic reception to Hamster had somewhat intimidated me. And if I felt that with the modest success of Hamster imagine what poor Harper Lee felt when her first ever book won the world’s most-coveted literary prize and was set by exam boards the world over. If you are looking for a story with charming characters, a solid friendship and some shenanigans involving a sunbed and seriously dodgy alternative medicine this is the book for you. On immediately finishing the book I felt that I didn't feel this one as much as Time Travelling with a Hamster, but with a bit of distance since the time I finished it, I've decided that I'm actually more fond of the main characters of this novel than the previous. I often sensed that as a reader I was being asked to think about what I would do if I were faced with Ethel’s dilemmas. Ethel is frequently presented with two options – the easy way and the hard way. For example when she hurts her friend Boyd’s feelings to save her own reputation Ethel must choose between looking after herself or boosting Boyd’s social standing at school at the risk of exposing her invisibility. As a reader you ask yourself just how far you would go to help a friend. Turning invisible at will: it's one way of curing your acne. But far more drastic than 13 year-old Ethel Leatherhead intended when she tried a combination of untested medicines and a sunbed. It's fun at first, being invisible. And aided by her friend Boydy, she manages to keep her extraordinary ability secret. Or does she...?In my stomach there’s a lurch of fear, dread, and terror, which is a horrible combination when they all come together. Without warning, I throw up into the sink, but I can’t see anything coming out. I hear it splatter. I taste the hot puke in my mouth. Then, in a second or two, it materializes as I watch: my half-digested cornflakes. I only say this in case you’re hoping I’m going to be one of those daredevil kids who are always getting into trouble and being “sassy” to grown-ups. A well-written new friendship with a fellow misfit and some interesting scientific concepts thrown in make this a smart read. Ethel's story is more than just a 'wish-fulfilment' tale, with several strands weaving together to give this depth and heart. This is my third Ross Welford novel. I loved the two others that I have read – Time Travelling with a Hamster and The 1,000 Year Old Boy – and have recommended them widely. What not to do if you turn invisible explores some similar themes to the other books – a child who has lost a parent and who feels slightly set apart from their peers, childhood fears and worries, dealing with bullies, and choosing to be brave. It is also set in the same north east England neighbourhoods of Whitley Bay and Tynemouth (an area I know well as I lived there for a few years) and the made-up town on Culvercot (sounds rather like real-life Cullercoats to me!).

Ethel Leatherhead wishes she wasn't so noticeable - her acne has lately made her a target for bullies, her friends have found new cliques, the grandmother she lives with is old-fashioned (if loving). In trying out different skin remedies, she finds a tanning machine has a rather unexpected effect. She is made invisible!! H.G. Wells, sometimes called “the father of science fiction”, wrote The Invisible Man in 1897. In honour of Wells, I gave Ethel’s doctor the same name as the doctor in The Invisible Man – Dr Kemp.Stories about invisible people are plentiful and ancient. Plato, writing in Greece around 400BC, tells a story of the “Ring of Gyges” which will render the wearer invisible. Ethel lives with her grandma and is bullied for having terrible acne. Elliot is a recent blow-in from London and seems unaware of his status as social pariah. An unlikely but heartwarming friendship is formed over the course of the book (and I mean that in the least vomit-inducing way possible) and by the end one can really believe the bond between Ethel and Elliot is authentic. Did I mention that Ethel also suffers from spells of invisibility now and then? Well, she does, and that's where most of the humour comes in, but really, this is a story about family past and present and the family you build for yourself. Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment. El argumento del libro me ha parecido muy original, y al igual que en su anterior trabajo, Ross Welford aborda temas muy importantes y necesarios en la vida de los más jóvenes, como son por ejemplo los complejos, la soledad, la pérdida de algún familiar, la búsqueda de la personalidad, la amistad o el amor. De esta manera, muchos de los lectores pueden sentirse identificados con estos temas, y no hay nada mejor a esas edades que descubrir que hay otras personas con quienes comparten los mismos miedos e inquietudes. Es un libro que se lee muy rápido y de manera cómoda, ya que sus capítulos son muy cortos, lo que permite que cada lector lleve el ritmo que desea. Es cierto que al principio puede generar algo de confusión saber quién es quién, y es que parece que no queda claro el grado de parentesco que hay entre los personajes, pero se termina aclarando. El final es bastante optimista.