The Schwa Was Here

The Schwa was here is a "mostly" realistic story of a kid that is never noticed. However, there are a few "magical" bits that go just enough beyond the natural world. "Schwa" got his last name form a relative who died right as he was saying "Schwartz" to the immigration agent. He is often not noticed by most people. (Though some do have greater ability to notice him.) One boy befriends him. They do a number of experiments to test the strength of "not noticing". They find he can do well at basketball because nobody thinks to guard him. He can do all sorts of other "hidden" tricks. However, they try to sneak in to a grumpy old man and steal a dog dish. This is the undoing, as he gets caught. He and his friends are forced to do service of walking a dog. They also are asked to help the man's blind grand daughter. There is some youthful crushes and hurt fields. We find about the curious case of Schwa being abandoned by his mother in a grocery store cart. Schwa also blows the family fortune on a failed attempt to be noticed. Eventually, he disappears to try to find his mom. There is also a surprising way to get an Italian restaurant chef and a family that struggles with cooking skills.
The "extreme" unrealistic elements in the book are obviously over the top, and often played for the humor. The story is just grounded enough to make the characters easily relatable, yet weird enough to keep it interesting.