How to Stay Invisible
by Maggie C Rudd (Author)
My Side of the Mountain meets How to Steal a Dog in this high-stakes and heartfelt middle-grade story of a young boy and his dog surviving on their own in the woods.
Being alone is something Raymond is used to.
Twelve-year-old Raymond Hurley has never had a place to call home. His free-wheeling parents move their family from town to town, and he's living in a trailer in a brand-new state when one day, they just up and abandon him. All alone with nothing but a duffle bag full of clothes and his reliable pup, Rosie, he is forced to live in the woods behind his middle school.
With a fishing pole in hand and survival guide checked out from the library, Raymond scrapes by and doesn't tell anyone his secret. This isn't the first time he's had to rely on himself. However, when winter days get colder and finding food becomes nearly impossible, Raymond makes new friends, including a curious coyote, in unexpected places. Soon, he learns that his fate will depend not just on his wilderness skills, but on the people and animals he chooses to trust.
In How to Stay Invisible, Maggie C. Rudd takes readers on a journey of survival that speaks to friendship, adventure, and the everyday wonders of nature. In middle school, blending in is easy but sometimes the braver thing is being seen.
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Publishers Weekly
Rudd (I'll Hold Your Hand) weaves an uplifting tale of connection and found family featuring an unhoused tween. Twelve-year-old, white-cued Raymond is used to his unreliable parents constantly moving house. So when he starts at yet another middle school--this time in River Mill, N.C.--he does what he does best: keeps his head down and tries to stay invisible. But when his parents abruptly leave, abandoning him and his dog Rosie outside their locked, rented trailer, Raymond takes to the woods to avoid state care. Thus begins months of living in a tree hollow, where he contends with wild animals and faces hunger, bitter cold, and sickness. Keeping his situation secret, Raymond continues attending school and makes new friends--classmates, adults, and animals alike--who inadvertently help Raymond come to terms with his harsh reality and prompt him to question the long-term effects of his solitude and secrecy. Via introspective third-person prose, Rudd juxtaposes a typical middle school milieu of crushes and school projects against Raymond's harrowing position. A hearty dose of existentialism, depictions of necessary wilderness skills, and ruminations on the perseverance of the human spirit permeate this meditative survival read. Ages 10-14. Agent: Mary Cummings, Great River Literary. (June)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Hornbook
Review quotes
Maggie C. Rudd is from rural North Carolina where she lives with her family. When she isn't writing, she is teaching middle school, making forts, or outside getting muddy with her kids.
Elisa Chavarri is the illustrator of numerous books for children, including Rainbow Weaver/Tejedora del Arcoiris and Federico and the Wolf. Originally from Lima, Peru, she did much of her growing up in Northern Michigan where she now resides with her husband and two small children whose little hands she loves to hold.JUV001010 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure | Survival Stories
Schools
Survival
Abandoned children
Middle schools
Trust
Forests and forestry
