Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Hello, Goodbye
Bobby Phillips wakes up one day and discovers that he is invisible (yeah, this book doesn't dilly-dally when it comes to getting to the action). It's a heart-thudding, panic-inducing moment, both for Bobby and his parents, and once it settles in, they have to figure out what to do. All they know is that no one else can possibly know about this, since Bobby's dad is convinced that the government will want to get its hands on Bobby and run all sorts of scientific tests on him. He has to stay hidden. That shouldn't be too hard, though, right? After all, he's invisible.
Rising Action
I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
Things only get rougher for Bobby and his family after his parents are in a car accident and have to stay in the hospital. This complicates the story, since it makes it harder for Bobby to hide out—especially since he's a minor and isn't allowed to stay home by himself. To ease the loneliness, Bobby goes against his parents' warnings and makes a new friend, a blind girl named Alicia. With her help, he enlists her parents to join the Committee to Find a Way to Make Bobby Visible Again, which consists of Bobby, his parents, and now Alicia's family.
Climax
Committing a Crime
Desperate times call for desperate measures, so once Bobby figures out that his invisibility has something to do with his electric blanket, he devises a plan to break into Sears, Roebuck & Company in order to steal a list of names of people who have complained. And even though it's a risky plan (especially because he involves Alicia), it pays off. Phew.
Bobby finds a woman named Sheila who has had the exact same thing happen to her. What do you know? Maybe invisibility isn't so rare a condition after all. At the same time, things are coming to a head for Bobby's parents. The social worker who's been following-up with them is threatening to bring in the police and press charges since no one has seen Bobby in a long time.
Falling Action
Not Alone After All
Now that Bobby has identified the root cause of his problem, he can kind of breathe easy, though he's still needs to work out a way to bring himself back to visibility so that his parents don't end up in jail for killing their son and hiding the body. Alicia figures that if he just turns the blanket back on and sleeps under it, maybe it will bring him back. But when Bobby does, he's woken up in the middle of the night by the police storming their house. Oh, dear…
Resolution
Whoomp! There It Is
But never fear: In the end, the police charge into Bobby's room and find a very visible, very naked boy. Oops—that's embarrassing. At least it means that Bobby's parents are off the hook and he can go back to his normal life now. And he and Alicia work out some of their awkward tension and admit their feelings for each other. It's practically a fairytale ending.