[en] Because the character of the scattering changes markedly from ⁶Li to ¹²C projectiles, a study of the ⁹Be + ²⁸Si system was undertaken to examine the transition region. Data were measured at 121.0 and 201.6 MeV. Low-energy data of other investigators were used to carry out global optical model searches. It was found that the elastic scattering of ⁹Be from ²⁸Si is dominated at all energies by relatively strong absorption. This removes much of the sensitivity to the real potential, and even elastic scattering data spanning a range of energies from 13 to 201 MeV do not allow a unique determination of the potential parameters. There is at least circumstantial evidence that ⁶Li scattering at low energies (and by implication also ⁹Be scattering) may be strongly influenced by breakup processes, although it is not clear that the mechanism is the same. 3 figures, 1 table