Everything Turns Invisible

by Gerry Hadden

Milo Prieto’s odd life begins with an equally odd being adopted as a baby by asylum-seeking Cuban musicians and growing up in an experimental housing project in the North Bronx. He’s white, his parents black, but he fits in even as he sticks out. He even shows early promise on the drums. But an accident spells the end of everything. By 17 he finds himself abandoned and incarcerated. He wants nothing more than to die. To disappear. To become as invisible as he feels. And then out of nowhere he gets a second chance. Sprung from “juvi” via a program for promising teens who’ve slipped off the rails, Milo heads from New York City to Maine and beyond on a journey with more missteps than he could have imagined. Desperate to grow up, but unsure how, his plan is to escape into the unknown. But no matter how far he runs it seems his past is there first, waiting - waiting, quite possibly, with the answers he needs to move on. Everything Turns Invisible is a story about identity, separation, the power of music, of loss, and of finding second chances in the most unexpected places.

287 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 15, 2021

About the author

I'm a writer. My novel, Everything Turns Invisible, comes out June 15th, 2021. It's available for pre-order as a paperback or ebook anywhere, online or in stores.

An earlier version was published by Piper Verlag, in Munich, in October, 2017. In German. Stay tuned for updates on the Spanish and French editions.

For food, I work as a documentary filmmaker on a program called Big Story. Before that I was a foreign correspondent in radio, with PRI's The World and NPR.

My memoir from my NPR years, Never the Hope Itself: Love and Ghosts in Latin America and Haiti, was published in 2011 by HarperPerennial. http://amzn.to/2cnYIOr

We live on a mountainside above Barcelona, where my partner and I raise our three kids and fall asleep to the snuffling of wild boar beyond our wall.

Reviews

[Lisa Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hesitant to read this, assuming that it would be too depressing or perhaps political, but I'm happy I did. "Everything Turns Invisible" is a story of a boy who experiences trauma at a very young age, is left to fend for himself but is understandably unable to cope, and as a result spirals hellishly downwards as a teenager. The sad and tragic tone of the narrative is tempered by it's humor, which, coupled with a lucky turn of events for the main character, made "Everything Turns Invisible" an engaging, deeply moving, and surprisingly funny read.

[Christina Comparato · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gigantic congratulations to Gerry Hadden for this masterpiece. I am missing Milo and pining for more information about how his life progresses. The character development in the book is incredible! It’s a page turner! Enjoy!

[George Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerry's work is always interesting--he always has such a unique perspective, whatever he tackles: novels, radio journalism... you name it!