To Be Invisible

To Be Invisible follows twelve-year-old Asha Baxter, a Black girl living in her grandmother's overcrowded multigenerational household while her family saves money to get their own place. Asha quietly manages invisible labor—watching her toddler brother, navigating her cousin Sherita's moods, hiding her academic struggles—all while fantasizing about hosting a cooking show as a private escape. When a teacher's note home warns that Asha may need special education placement, her carefully constructed invisibility begins to crack. The novel is tender, funny, and clear-eyed, written in a grounded, specific voice that captures the shame of poverty, the sting of family cruelty, and the stigma of learning differences. At 13,600 words, it sits at the early end of middle grade, accessible to strong chapter-book readers moving up. Comparable titles include Renée Watson's Ryan Hart series and Nic Stone's Clean Getaway—books that blend humor with hard social truths for readers 9–12.