”…a wise and ineffably lovely coming of age tale…” -Jack Magnus
“It’s Harry Potter good.” -Sophie S.For all the quiet, unseen kids whose ideas will change our world.Odo Whitley is translucent, human frosted glass, eyes peering through him, never at him. His achingly lonely existence is upended when a strange girl with flaming orange hair passes him a cryptic note in science class, sending … girl with flaming orange hair passes him a cryptic note in science class, sending the two unlikely new friends on an interdimensional quest for a mysterious lost doll.
With help from the enigmatic man in the gray hat, a huge yellow octopus from Plindor, a lovely old brainless dead lady, and their new boss at the Serendipity Salvage Company, Odo Whitley and Sephie Crumb must travel to the terrifying world of Atroxia and find the doll before it falls into the hands of the murderous children of Sensus.more
“Why does it always feel like Wikerus knows exactly what’s happening, but won’t tell us?”
“Because he knows exactly what’s happening, and won’t tell us.”
“I’m going to vaporize you, Odo Whitley.”
There is more information in this little exchange taken from Tom Hoffman’s newest addition to amazement, The Translucent Boy (and the cat who ran out of time) than one might suspect, but you need to read Mr. Hoffman’s series of books for young readers in order to appreciate all the humor and joy. This is the remarkable follow-up to The Translucent Boy (and the girl who saw him) which marked the beginning of so many world-hopping, time-traveling, alien-encountering, ghostly-visiting, mind-boggling adventures of Odo Whitley, a mostly see-through boy, and his best friend Sephie Crumb, a …. No. I don’t think I’ll tell you.
In this particular adventure of The Translucent Boy (and the cat who ran out of time), Tom Hoffman tells about a cat who ran out of time. Sorry. But he does. And in the world according to Mr. Hoffman, such an event is simply and always the Universe’s way of getting his heroes’ attention in order to accomplish mighty and important tasks. The boy is ultra-wary, but courageous. The girl is super-smart, and brave. Together, they are funny as hell. (Such language does not appear in Hoffman’s books. Your kids are safe.) And if you think I’m being evasive about the plot, I am. One wants not to give away the origin of the cat’s new name, why young Silas is seeing ghosts, how Odo and Sephie do all the supernatural (err…scientific) things they do, and most especially not why Wikerus always knows what’s happening but won’t tell. Anyway, I’m out of time.
The Translucent Boy and the Girl Who Saw Him by Tom Hoffman is such a creative book! A great middle grade book but like Harry Potter, this book will make fans out of all age groups. This is a strange world to begin with and it just gets stranger. A woman uses a special formula with a warning on it, a perfume. It causes her son it be translucent but not invisible. A girl can see auras. They meet and become friends. Then, they meet a very strange fellow they told them about traveling to other worlds. It is an interesting, exciting, very clever book with lots that keeps the pages turning! I can see this being the next big hit with enough exposure! Terrific book!
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: The Translucent Boy and the Girl Who Saw Him
Author: Tom Hoffman
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 19
Stats
Editing: 9/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Content: 10/10
Cover: 9/10
Of the 19 readers:
18 would read another book by this author.
18 thought the cover was good or excellent.
19 felt it was easy to follow.
19 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 9 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 10 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
19 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
19 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
‘Cool magical adventure with tons happening. Liked the characters, loved the plot.’ Boy, aged 14
‘I loved the chemistry between the two characters. The author is very good at developing characters and making the reader care about them and what happens to them.’ Girl, aged 14
‘Odo is a bit odd but he also never seems to give up and is a sort of positive character. The whole translucent thing is really clever. The girl is just as odd but I love that she sees Odo. I think they will get together in the end. I will read the next book to see what happens.’ Girl, aged 15
To Sum It Up:
‘A strongly plotted adventure filled with charismatic and enthralling characters. A FINALIST and highly recommended’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards