Evidence of Things Not Seen

The disappearance of high school physics nerd Tommy shakes up a small Texas town. Many chapters feature a character telling the sheriff what he or she knows about Tommy, while others are third-person stories; each is prefaced by a philosophical passage from Tommy's notebook. Complex and rich, the story hints at Tommy's fate, but with an open ending that's perfect for sparking discussion.

The disappearance of physics nerd Tommy shakes up the residents of a small Texas town. Tommy talked so much about particle physics and alternate realities that some of them wonder if he has slipped into another dimension, while others are sure that the high school junior is dead. Many of the book's nineteen chapters feature a character telling the sheriff what he or she knows about Tommy while actually revealing more about him- or herself, as with Alvin, who describes his life with his abusive father in the context of explaining Tommy's frequent appearances and disappearances. Other vignettes are third-person stories, most of them set in what the town residents call the "pull-out," a dirt area at the side of the road. There, for instance, Marshall pours his heart out to prom date Leann, not realizing that the sexual abuse she has suffered makes it impossible for her to be anything but terrified by being alone with a boy. Each chapter gives the date and how long it has been since Tommy's disappearance and is prefaced by a passage from Tommy's notebook, filled with philosophical musings ("Do I exist if no one or nothing is observing me?"). Luminous passages, such as the one in which a teenage girl scatters her father's ashes, provide respite from the recurring theme of sexual exploitation. Complex and rich, the story hints at Tommy's fate, but with an open ending that is perfect for sparking discussion. susan dove lempke