The Schwa Was Here

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The Schwa Was Here
Theschwawashere.jpg
AuthorNeal Shusterman
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung adult novel
PublisherDutton Penguin
Publication date
2004
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages228 pp
ISBN978-0-525-47182-0
OCLC54852781
LC ClassPZ7.S55987 Sbe 2004

The Schwa Was Here is a young adult novel by Neal Shusterman, published by Dutton Penguin in 2004. It is about an eighth-grader's friendship with another student named Calvin Schwa, who goes almost completely unnoticed by the people around him.

Inspiration[]

Neal Shusterman stated in an interview that he was inspired to write the book upon doing a Q&A in a school, and not noticing a kid with his hand raised in the middle of the group. Remarking in the interview that upon noticing this he thought, "I want to write a story about an unnoticeable kid and we were in the school library and he was sitting in front of the big dictionary and I thought, well, this kid is kind of like a schwa — that unnoticeable sound in the English language. And that's where the idea came from."[1]

Reception[]

The book received critical acclaim upon its release, receiving a starred review from School Library Journal[2] and a positive review from Booklist.[3] It also received the 2005 Boston Globe/Horn Book Magazine award for fiction and poetry.[4]

Adaptations[]

The book has reportedly been optioned by The Disney Channel for a telefilm project. Shusterman, who worked with the channel on the project Pixel Perfect, was lined up to write the script for the project.[5]

It has also been adapted into a three act play by Kory Howard, and was performed for the first time ever in February 2017, by the Manti High School Theatre Department.[citation needed]

References[]

  1. ^ Adlit.org http://www.adlit.org/transcript_display/32989/. Retrieved December 8, 2019. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ School Library Journal, October 2004, p176.
  3. ^ Booklist, 2004.
  4. ^ Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards. URL accessed 18 April 2007.
  5. ^ Kimberly Nordyke: "'Schwa' noticed by Disney Channel." Hollywood Reporter, 14 November 2006.
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