Product Description

Speechless

Connor is sure his best friend, Branwell, couldn't have hurt Branwell's baby half sister, Nikki. But Nikki lies in a coma, and Branwell is in a juvenile behavioral center, suspected of a horrible crime and unable to utter the words to tell what really happened.

Connor is the only one who might be able to break through Branwell's wall of silence. But how can he prove Branwell didn't commit the unspeakable act of which he's accused -- when Branwell can't speak for himself?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28852 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.com Review
What happened on Wednesday, November 25, 2:43 P.M., Eastern Standard Time, to cause Branwell Zamborska to become mute? All anyone knows is that he called 911 because his baby sister, Nikki, had stopped breathing, and when he was unable to speak to the operator, Vivian, the English au pair, came on the line to say that Branwell had dropped the baby and shaken her. His best friend, Connor, begins visiting him at the juvenile behavioral center, where he has been sent while Nikki remains in a coma at the hospital. Working out a code they both can use, Connor begins the long process of trying to communicate with his friend to find out what really happened. With the help of his own half-sister and some canny detective work, Connor uncovers a complex, multilayered tale of human desires, adolescent confusion, and a touch of menace.

E.L. Konigsburg, brilliant Newbery Medal-winning author of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and The View from Saturday, has honed her skills to a fine point. Her keen understanding of young people is matched by her ability to create suspenseful, page-turning masterpieces. This beautifully written story is darker than some of her others, with a remarkably true glimpse into a young man's inner world. (Ages 10 to 14) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
HWith this impeccably crafted novel two-time Newbery Medalist Konigsburg (The View from Saturday) again demonstrates her keen insight into the needs and tastes of a middle-grade audience. Here she ventures into what seemsDfor herDunusually dark territory. The story begins with a transcript of a 911 phone call. The caller himself (shortly afterward identified as 13-year-old Branwell Zamborska) appears silent, then a young British woman (an au pair) takes the phone and says that a six-month baby is unconscious: "He dropped her." As the comatose baby undergoes hospitalization, Branwell is struck mute and brought to a county facility for disturbed youths while prosecutors weigh charges against him. Young readers, unlikely to recall Louise Woodward and the Eappens, will be rapt as Konigsburg slowly unravels the true circumstances of the baby's accident and of Branwell's silence. Connor, Branwell's best friend, narrates and serves as detective, ingeniously finding a way to prise clues out of Branwell and piece them together. He enlists the help of his 20-something half-sister Margaret, one of those brilliant, slightly cryptic and idiosyncratic heroines Konigsburg fashions so well. In her classic style, the author inlays the plot with intriguing facts that prove significant (e.g., a Frenchman paralyzed completely except for his left eye "wrote" a book by having a friend recite the alphabet, then blinking when she came to the letter he needed). Along the way, Konigsburg also investigates the dynamics of step-families, preadolescent sexuality and other knotty subjectsDthe extraordinary achievement here is that she joins every element so seamlessly in the service of her gripping story. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
"Part detective and suspense story, this multilayered novel is much more, touching on themes of communication, relationships in blended families, being different, friendship, adolescence, and shame."
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A new kind of Konigsburg
E.L. Konigsburg's writing has been migrating in style and subject matter; her latest work. Silent to the Bone, is ample proof of that. It's also proof that she can write anything she wants to. It is an excellent and intense book that explores family, friendship, love, and lies with Konigsburg's accustomed skill and intelligence.

The main character and narrator is Connor. Branwell, Connor's best friend, has been accused of seriously injuring his baby sister Nikki, and has been unable to speak since she was hurt. Connor visits Branwell in the detention center, where he realizes that he must first learn to communicate with his friend and then learn what really happened to Nikki. Connor is a very intelligent kid, but still real and fully-fleshed. In fact, the main characters of this book - Connor, Branwell, the au pair, and Connor's sister - are all very well developed, as are the relationships between them.

Although the subject is rather grim, the book itself is not. The primary focus is actually Connor's detective work, the ways in which he goes about discovering what happened both in Branwell's house and in Branwell's head. The plot is gripping and believeable, and the truths - about Branwell's sister, but many others as well - unfold naturally, without calling attention to themselves. Although Konigsburg rarely makes blatent statements about emotions or complex relationships - people mostly don't, after all - she makes everything clear to the reader. The family relationships, for example, are for the most part background, but so perfectly drawn that they are easy to see and understand.

Although it's very different from her early works, like From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Silent to the Bone is every bit as good. It's certainly better than The View from Saturday, which was a Newbery book. I would suggest that it is more of a YA book, for a slightly older audience than the age range suggests. A nine-year-old could read and enjoy this, but he'd have to be a fairly mature one.

SIAS: Average boy uses wits, compassion, and help from sister to uncover the truth, protect the helpless, and save the day. (Ands: 2, cliches: 3, ranking: ?)

(And a side note: *what* is with Konigsburg's obsession with the word epiphany?)

A moms perspective
I would reccommend this book for ages 12 and up, not 9-12 as your reading level suggests. I enjoyed the interesting word games, strong characterizations & insight into young minds but found the plot slightly contrived. Never-the-less the book held my attention from beginning to end. SIAS: Coming-of age book, dealing with mature subject matter including, teen angst, loss and denial. The book will explain!!

Simply Marvelous
Silent to the Bone is an amazing children's book. Only E.L. Konigsburg could have written it because almost no other author has such an understanding of young people. No other author could have given the reader such insight to the character's lives. Silent to the Bone is mostly about these insights. The plot follows Connor and Branwell, two thirteen-year-olds. Branwell has been accused of shaking and dropping the baby, but has become mute after whatever it was that happenned. Connor doesn't think that Branwell committed the crime; so he takes it upon himself to get Branwell to speak. To do this, though, means Connor (with his sister's help) must begin to peal back the layers of Branwell's life. He must learn exactly why Branwell became silent. He must learn about the tension and stress in the family's like (all the while, learning about his own family). Connor must try to piece together what happened at Branwell's home the months preceeding the accident as well as the day of the accident. The end result is almost a detective novel, but one with psychological insights. Silent to the Bone is a novel which will make a person think. Some of the themes may be too mature for younger readers, but young adults and older readers will gain from this novel and will certainly be fascinated and entertained by it.

*Also, I would like to warn anyone who's not read the book to not read the "eleven-year-old from New York"'s (April 10, 2001) review. It gives away all of the ending to this very suspenceful story.