(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh. This fictional account relates the joyful moment when, in 2019, a nonverbal ("which means he usually doesn't speak much" per an appended note) nine-year-old named Ronan Mattin declared "wow!" after hearing a Mozart composition at Boston's Symphony Hall. With economical language, Boss emphasizes Ronan's silence: "'Shall we go to the beach?' Ronan is quiet...'Shall we go to the park?' Ronan is quiet." Suddenly, Grandfather bursts in, wearing classy attire, and invites Ronan to the symphony. Mother and Father seem concerned but agree, and Grandfather, Ronan, and Ronan's little dog drive to the noisy city for the show. Kheiriyeh employs warm colors, with an emphasis on reds, in her inviting mixed-media illustrations. The musicians and audience members are humorously exaggerated, with dramatic hairstyles and old-fashioned clothes. Visually, the book soars when the music (identified in the author's note as Mozart's Masonic Funeral Music) begins. The illustrations show Ronan's inner response; he and his dog appear floating through space, transported by the music's many moods. Ronan's "wow!" causes the audience and musicians to laugh and cheer, and the moment feels earned after these dynamic spreads. Boss's use of sound effects ("Zimmity Zimmity Zum") make this a pleasing read-aloud. The book ends on an emotionally satisfying note, with Ronan dreaming about his cosmic musical experience.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bryan Collier. In free-verse poems, Watson describes key experiences in Maya Angelou's life. She highlights influential family members, such as Maya's brother (a source of strength) and Momma (grandmother and shrewd store owner) as well as ­historical figures such as Malcolm X and Dr. ­Martin Luther King Jr., close friends in her adult life who invite her to speak, write, and work toward the cause of freedom for all. Watson doesn't shy away from addressing tough topics, including Maya at age seven being attacked by her mother's boyfriend, which left her mute for years. Collier's accomplished illustrations have a strong narrative pull. Two spreads are particularly compelling. "Caged In" zooms in on the top half of Maya's face, enlarged to show eyes full of pain, with a cage and shadow of a bird, while the following spread shows the bottom half of that same face with her mouth encircled by a lotus-like flower and that cage imprisoning her words. Both illustrations are drenched in the blue of sadness that Collier describes in his illustrator's note. This eloquent picture book is a portrait of a resilient woman with a deep capacity for using words to find hope in the world.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(2) 4-6 Prez (who's in foster care--just until Granddad gets "sorted out" in a nursing home) joins alien Sputnik on a mission to find ten things worth saving Earth from destruction. A madcap series of cinematic action sequences provides nine things; with the tenth, the novel finds its philosophical bearings. The characters bond as Prez searches for his beloved granddad and Sputnik strives to save the world that contains them.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2017

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Divya Srinivasan. A desperate Rajah and Rani promise a reward to anyone who can entice their blind, mute daughter to speak. A tiger succeeds by truly communicating--not just talking--with lonely princess Cinnamon. First published in a magazine for adults in 1995, this original fable has a sly humor that may still appeal more to grownups than children, but the story's folktale cadence and sumptuous illustrations are entrancing.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(2) 4-6 After his father dies, twelve-year-old Flip leaves Amsterdam for Mossum, a remote North Sea island, to live on taciturn Uncle Andries's farm. Flip claims a place when he rescues a stranded horse from the sea with the help of a new friend who refuses to speak. With its small-town intimacies and dependence on weather, 1966 Mossum makes for a dynamic and compelling environment.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017

(4) 4-6 Eleven-year-old Yonder has not spoken since her mother's death four years earlier, her father has sunk into drunken depression, and she's bullied at school. The companionship and comfort Yonder finds with a neglected Shetland pony named Dirt help her through. This sympathetic character's story of loss and healing, while not very subtle, should resonate with kids who share Yonder's affinity for animals.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(2) YA Diary entries relate twelve-year-old electively mute orphan Mary's heart-wrenching experience of bullying at Thornhill Institute in 1982. Alternating and gradually intertwining with Mary's narrative is Ella's story in 2017, told entirely in atmospheric black-and-white illustrations. Her investigation into Thornhill's past gradually reveals Mary's fate. The suspenseful ghost story and highly visual format make for an undeniable page-turner; text and illustrations reward careful attention with telling details.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2017

(2) 4-6 Translated by Helen Wang. Illustrated by Meilo So. In this story set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, seven-year-old Sunflower is taken in by a kind village family after her artist father's untimely death. Nainai (grandma), Baba (father), Mama, and Sunflower's friend Bronze all care for the girl fiercely, but life in 1960s rural China is filled with hardship. The emotional depth and unflinching realism help sustain readers' interest.

Reviewer: Roxanne Hsu Feldman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2017

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Sarah Hokanson. Jubilee lives with her aunt Cora on an island off the Maine coast, having been abandoned by her mother. For the first time, Jubilee will be in a mainstream fifth-grade class without the support of a special-needs teacher for her selective mutism. Giff examines the bonds that people create, both with other people and with animals, and she gets the island-life details right.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(2) YA Tess, fifteen, is an offbeat English introvert with a highly involved dad. After she discovers his startling blog post recounting her own birth ("It wasn't my daughter. It was...some sperm donor's"), her anger emboldens her to stand up against Dad's expectations. Her rebellion of choice is silence, but her narrative voice speaks loudly--Tess is a witty and appealing protagonist.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2016

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Aaron Boyd. Traveling from Haiti to America in a small rowboat, Henri loses his parents; saved by another immigrant boat, Henri is eventually brought to New York by his uncle. Through a friendship with neighbor Karrine, who lost her father during Hurricane Katrina, and by playing his water bucket as a drum, Henri slowly regains his voice and joy. Expressive watercolors evoke the emotions of displacement.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) 4-6 In 1942, ten-year-old Manami's family is forced into the Manzanar internment camp. Heartbroken by the loss of her dog, Yujiin, Manami becomes mute; her emotional trauma is sensitively portrayed. Manami recovers her voice when she needs it most, and the story closes on a hopeful note. Readers ready for a somber story should find this novel about Japanese American internment honest and engaging. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2016

(2) YA Parker, seventeen, has psychogenic aphonia; he stopped talking after his father died. Then he meets Zelda--a mysterious, silver-haired girl who says she's lived for centuries. Parker recounts their adventures with a whip-smart, sardonic narrative voice in this fast-paced romp around an atmospheric San Francisco, interspersed with Parker's fantasy short stories and sustained by a steady course of philosophical (and flirtatious) banter.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2016

(4) 4-6 Suzy starts seventh grade traumatized by the accidental drowning of her former best friend, Franny, and by her parents' separation. However, she finds solace in researching the jellyfish she persuades herself caused Franny's death. Promising in voice, although overburdened by issues (including selective mutism), this is an original and affecting take on the preteen-turmoil novel.

Reviewer: Nina Lindsay

(4) YA Field Party series. West Ashby, football king of Alabama's Lawton High, is secretly drowning in grief over his father's cancer. At a party, West confides in new girl Maggie, who's experienced her own trauma and hasn't spoken since; when Maggie breaks her silence, a unique bond forms. Despite some contrivances, fans of The Vincent Boys and Glines's other mature romances will enjoy this new series.

Reviewer: Meredith M. Sittman

(3) YA Impregnated by her senator father and temporarily discarded in an abusive "lunatic asylum," Grace poses as a mute victim of brain surgery and escapes to a kinder asylum with Dr. Thornhollow, who employs Grace's intelligence and sharp memory to help profile criminals. McGinnis astutely blurs the lines between sanity and insanity and captures the changing mental-health environment of late–nineteenth century America.

Reviewer: Rebecca Fox

(3) 4-6 During WWI in a small fishing village off the coast of England, a boy and his father discover a young girl, injured and mute. As the family nurses her back to health, townspeople grow suspicious that she's German; in reality, she's a survivor of the sunken Lusitania. Morpurgo incorporates the profound effects of war on ordinary people in an emotionally charged historical drama.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) 4-6 After saving the last animals on Earth from a plague, electively mute Kester faces a different threat from a new underground faction of animals who seek revenge for humanity's destructive actions. This sequel successfully expands the world of The Last Wild, introducing new human and animal factions while ratcheting up the tension and allowing Kester to mature over the course of his adventure.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(2) YA Ever since discovering her older brother dead in his bedroom, Kaia speaks to no one. When an unspeaking, ragged "wild child" appears at school, Kaia befriends him; gradually, his companionship brings back her own emotional warmth and engagement. Kaia tells her story through a series of ostensible journal entries; her clean, uncluttered mode of expression makes this British import a quick and accessible read.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(3) 4-6 A mixed-race kid in small-town Iowa, Jewel has always felt like an outsider. Compounding her loneliness is the fact that her brother, Bird, died jumping off a cliff the day she was born. Jewel's family blames the supernatural; Jewel, now twelve, turns to geology for emotional comfort. Chan's debut offers a thoughtful exploration of loss, family, and different approaches to grief and recovery.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl