Book Review :: "The Weight of Silence"

So a good friend of mine and I have been trading off books this summer.  This one came highly recommended by her and I was very, very impressed by it.

The Weight of Silence, by Heather Gudenkauf

Synopsis:  Calli Clark suffers from selective mutism.  Having witnessed a traumatic event as a toddler that pushed her into silence, she hasn't spoken a word in nearly four years.  Her father is an alcoholic, usually absent, and often angry, but she finds solace in her mother, Antonia; her brother, Ben; and her best friend, kindred spirit and voice, Petra Gregory.  When both of the seven-year-old girls go missing, Antonia begins to fear that the decision to stay in her marriage has cost more than her daughter's voice.  In order to find the girls, the Clark and Gregory families will be forced to confront the skeletons in their closets and dig deep into their families' darkest secrets.

My Rating:  *  *  *  *  *

This was an interesting read for me.  Typically, I stick well within the YA genre of the library.  This book was one of those books that kind of make you rethink a lot of what you thought you knew.  The story was intense and deep, and at times uncomfortable.  I enjoy books that make me think when I have finished them, and this one definitely did that.  I couldn't put this book down; it was a page-turner until the very end.

**SPOILER ALERT**
If you are uncomfortable with the awful things that humans can do to each other, don't read this book.  Also, if you are uncomfortable with a certain four-letter word beginning with "f", you may want to steer clear.  However, where some books and movies will add that word for no apparent reason, in the case of this book, it actually really helped to establish character and setting.