Book Review: The Amanda Project: Book 1: Invisible I

I grabbed this book because I was interested in the concept. This is a book that has clues hidden throughout the book. You can create an account on the website for the book to help provide clues, solve the mystery, provide stories and poems. It is a continuation of the story. It will be interesting to see what they use to craft the upcoming books in the series.

The story is told through the eyes of Callista Leary. Callista is a member of the I-girls which is a popular clique. The key factor to this story is the fact that Callista is friends with a new girl named Amanda Valentino. Nobody knows they are friends because only I-girls are friends with I-girls. One day Amanda does not come to school and Callista finds herself being called to the vice principal's office along with two other students who are not considered "cool". Callista finds herself working with Nia and Hal to figure out where Amanda is based on the clues she left behind.

I did not like Callista at all in the beginning. She was part of this clique who thought they were so much better than everyone else. However, I did find myself liking her as the story progressed. It is hard to read a book when you don't like the main character so it took me a while to get into this book. However, I think that this book will really appeal to the middle school crowd as they will be able to relate to all the issues a lot more than me. I thought that the book did a really nice job conveying the idea that not everyone is as they seem. I see this in school all the time where if students really knew what went on at home with some of their peers they would be blown away and would change how they treat each other. It is sad at times knowing that we are so judgemental of others, but it is reality.

The whole story of Amanda missing is not as central to the story line as I thought it was going to be. The story really follows Callista and her own slef reflection of herself. The mystery of Amanda is what will keep this series going. There is also the mystery of Callista's mother who is also missing for reasons that were not yet revealed.

Check this book out. Check out www.theamandaproject.com. The site is created as if created by the three main characters (Callie, Hal, and Nia). I will be interested in seeing how everything plays out. Stella Lennon is identified as the creator of the cover. If you go to the website you will find out that it is a pseudonym. The future books will be told from the other main characters, Hal and Nia.

This was a fun read. It is the first book in a planned eight book series. A lot of things are laid out, a lot of things are not solved, but I will probably continue to read this series.