Please Note: I received a digital review copy of Invisible Isabel and was monetarily compensated in exchange for composing and hosting an interview with the author. This compensation in no way affected my opinions.
Title Invisible Isabel
Author Sally J. Pla
Intended Target Audience Middle Grade
Genre Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Publication Date July 9th 2024 by Quill Tree Books
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From award-winning author Sally J. Pla comes an illustrated middle grade novel about introverted Isabel Beane, who learns to speak up to quiet her worries. This thoughtful, earnest story is perfect for fans of Elana K. Arnold and Leslie Connor.
Isabel Beane is a shy girl who lives in a home full of havoc and hubbub and hullabaloo. With five siblings, there is always too much too much-ness.
At school, there’s a new girl who is immediately popular, but she’s also not very nice to one person—Isabel.
Isabel has never felt more invisible. She begins to get bombarded by fears, like being abandoned by her classmates and taking the upcoming Extremely Important standardized test. Her fears feel like worry-moths that flutter in her belly. With every passing day, they seem to get stronger and stronger. How can Invisible Isabel make people listen?
Sally J. Pla
In addition to being an advocate for neurodiversity and autism acceptance, Sally J. Pla is the award-winning author of the novels The Someday Birds, Stanley Will Probably Be Fine, and The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn, as well as the picture book Benji, The Bad Day, And Me.
She’s also co-founder and editor of A Novel Mind, a web resource on mental health and neurodiversity in children’s lit. Find out more here, and follow her on Twitter @SallyJPla.
1. Invisible Isabel is your first novel written in verse! Why was verse the right medium with which to tell Isabel’s story?
I played with verse a little bit in The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn – because Maudie’s introspective moments happens in small, quiet bursts of thought (she is a slow processor), occasional bouts of verse worked well in the novel to convey those moments for Maudie.
And I loved writing the verse so much, I wanted to keep it up in this next book. This little story felt like the perfect verse vehicle. It’s for younger readers, so the rhythm of the words, the feel of them moving lively on your tongue, and the nice free white space on the heavily illustrated pages – it keeps things moving for younger eyes and ears.
2. How does writing a novel in verse differ from writing in prose? Can you share some of the unique challenges and joys you experienced when writing in this medium?
Verse feels like a slightly elevated angle from which to consider a story. Farther away, so there’s this sense of seeing more. Which, paradoxically, brings you closer in, letting you see more intimately and deeply. The magic trick of verse.
As for a unique challenge, well, I tend to veer into rhyming couplets. My ear likes them! I love rhythms and beats. But rhymes often sound trite, so I am always fighting the urge!
3. Isabel has a big family who all excel at something – Irene at art, Iliana at guitar, etc. – while Isabel struggles to recognize what she’s good at and what’s her ‘special thing’. (Personally, I think Isabel’s big heart and kindness make her very special!) In addition to writing, can you share a few of your ‘special things’ and/or what you’re good at?
Isabel’s big heart and kindness does indeed make her special – thank you so much for saying that. So many of us are like Isabel in that we often don’t recognize what’s most special about ourselves. If we’re lucky, the people who love us will help us to recognize and appreciate our own gifts.
As for me, well, I love to play music – usually classical piano, or old favorite songs on my very old guitar. I draw and paint. I have a pretty good ear for languages and love learning them. I guess those are some of my special things.
4. My heart ached when Isabel was being excluded by the other girls in her grade! Things like not being invited to a birthday party or not having someone to spend time with at recess are sincerely painful experiences and can feel like the end of the world, both of which Isabel experiences in this book. What would you say to a young reader who’s in a similar situation to Isabel and who might feel isolated or alone?
We have all had these terrible moments, right? A moment that might feel like the worst thing that has ever happened, has just happened to you. Young reader, you have every right to your feelings right now. I am virtually here for you while you cry or shout or beat your pillow, and to quietly hug you and say when you are done:
Please remember that the great wheel of life will keep turning, and this terrible time and place and situation will pass. Things will get better for you! And then, someday, worse again. Ack! Much more joy is ahead. More sorrow, too. But you can handle it. You are worthy and wonderful, and you matter. You matter to your loved ones, and to the world. You shine so brightly. You matter right now, and you always will matter, and be worthy, and valuable.
5. Isabel struggles with anxiety throughout the novel, which causes her stomach aches she attributes to what she calls her “worry-moths”. As someone diagnosed with anxiety herself, I could deeply relate to Isabel’s many fears and concerns. My worry-moths often cause me to fixate on what people think and whether or not they like me. What do your worry-moths whisper to you, and what do you do or tell yourself to make them fly away again?
My worry-moths constantly whisper in big buzzing choruses of random what-ifs: “what if this disastrous result happens, or you miss that plane, or you get lost, or hurt by this or that? What if you disappoint someone, or get some important specific thing wrong? What if your general autistic bewilderment by the world finally does you in?”
I try to imagine a big invisible fly swatter smacking away these worry-moths.
I take very deep breaths, and think about ocean waves.
Very long, very slow breaths. It’s amazing how much slow-breathing helps. Ocean-wave-breathing.
6. I was surprised to find that a number of chapters are told from Monica’s perspective, a girl in Isabel’s grade who spends much of the book bullying her. While it doesn’t excuse her cruel treatment of Isabel, it helped put Monica’s behaviour into context and allows the reader to better understand why Monica behaves as she does. Why was it important to you to include these chapters that explore Monica’s experiences and perspective?
What would the story have been like, if all we had was Isabel’s perspective, and Monica was just a cardboard cut-out bully for us to hate on?
Life is complicated, and as tough as it sometimes is to read about an unpopular second point-of-view, doing so really stretches that empathy muscle in ourselves.
No one is cut out of cardboard. Especially villains. Everyone has depth, and reasons.
7. Isabel and Monica’s lives are a study in contrasts – Isabel comes from a big, busy family characterized by “havoc, hubbub, and hullabaloo”, while Monica’s life is quieter and more subdued in the wake of her mother’s recent death and her father’s distraction and absence because of his job as a doctor. Which family environment do you think would make you feel most comfortable and happy? Do you come from a big, lively family, too?
My family background was not like either Isabel’s or Monica’s. But I did have some relatives, cousins, with a family of six kids whose names all started with J – and I adored these cousins, and their lively house. They definitely were an inspiration. My Aunt Peg and Uncle Frank are also included by name at a point in the story as a secret little loving call-out.
8. Isabel’s mom initially struggles to understand why what she views as simple tasks, like speaking up, are so difficult for Isabel. She chastises Isabel for being “too sensitive” and dismisses Isabel’s anxieties as trivial. How can we better support and act as allies to those in our life? What are some ways we can ensure someone feels seen and validated when they approach us about a sensitive and/or important issue?
Trust in your power of silence. Of quietly listening. Of holding space for a child while they confide. Of nodding and commiserating and swallowing down all the “you shoulds” or “you ought to haves.”
Just listen, and love your small person, and if it seems the time, then say, “Ah, poor you…hm, what do you think you’re going to do now?”
It is so hard, because we love, and we want to fix. To push. But when the child is autistic or neurodivergent, the wrong push might send our child flying.
The story of Invisible Isabel explores the need for patience and understanding and listening and empathy.
I want to explode empathy in my reader.
We are all different…the world needs its highly sensitive people. We need to value them more, have more patience…
9. One of the things I appreciated most about Invisible Isabel is the emphasis that mental and emotional health are every bit as real and important as physical health. Isabel tries to confide in others throughout the book about the severity of her anxiety and about her neurodivergence (autism), but her concerns are dismissed until a medical emergency legitimizes what she has been saying and forces the people in her life to begin listening to her. The novel also demonstrates how our mental and emotional health can have a direct impact on our physical health! Can you speak a little about this element of the book?
You put that so beautifully. Thank you so much for your deep understanding.
We are never too young to benefit from knowledge that there is a mind-body connection.
Children will follow Isabel’s story as she learns about what’s in her mind, and what’s in her body, and how sometimes our minds have no control (appendicitis), but sometimes, our minds do have some control! (anxiety!), and guess what? We can help ourselves. There are things we can do.
What a powerful thing to know! Right? Even just being able to recognize, “oh, that’s my anxiety, that’s my worry-moths,” can help make things feel not quite so bad.
10. When Isabel tells her brother that she wants to be a “Monica-Girl” in order to be accepted and fit in with the other girls in her grade, he responds “That’s dumb. You should just be an Isabel-Girl”. I loved this moment because it’s such a powerful reminder that what makes us different and unique is also what makes us special. We shouldn’t change or make ourselves smaller in order to fit in! What’s something that makes you uniquely you and special?
My writing – my books and stories.
We all have unique stories to tell, stories that make us unique and special.
