mute persons

Angry that her father has left, twelve-year-old Alice swears that she will live in her family's old Renaissance tent until he agrees to return; but after she meets her mute four-year-old neighbor Piper she finds herself becoming involved in the child's life--and when she hears the little girl speak a word for the first time in years she sets out to prove to Piper's parents that the dismal diagnosis they received for their daughter may be all wrong.

"Alice is fifteen, with hair as red as fire and skin as pale as bone. Something inside Alice is broken: she remembers words but struggles to speak them. Still, Alice knows words are for sharing, so she pins them to posters in tucked-away places: railway waiting rooms, fish-and-chip shops, quiet corners. Manny is sixteen, with a scar from shoulder to elbow. Something inside Manny is broken: he was once a child soldier, forced to do terrible, violent things. But in a new land with new people who will care for him, he spends time exploring on foot. And in his pocket, he carries a poem he scooped up. And he knows the words by heart. When Manny and Alice meet, their relationship brings the beginning of love and healing."--OCLC.

"When Mike, a teenaged boy with a facial scar, arrives at Medlar House, he becomes friends with Jacob, a boy who refuses to speak even when bullied by the others at the group home."--OCLC.

"A girl who can't speak and a boy who can't hear go on a journey of self-discovery and find support with each other."--Provided by publisher.

The parents of pearl-eyed princess Cinnamon offer a reward to anyone who can help their daughter speak, a plea answered by an exotic tiger who arrives at the palace, armed with knowledge of the world.

"Seventeen-year-old Lorna loves her adoptive sister, Callie. But Callie can't say "I love you" back. In fact, Callie can't say anything at all. Because Callie is an Iceling -- one of hundreds of teens who were discovered sixteen years ago on a remote Arctic island, all of them lacking the ability to speak or understand any known human language. Mysterious and panicked events lead to the two sisters embarking on a journey to the north, and now Lorna starts to see that there's a lot more to Callie's origin story than she'd been led to believe. Little does she know what's in store, and that she's about to uncover the terrifying secret about who -- and what -- Callie really is." -- Amazon.com.

Taken in by a poor family in a rural village after the death of her father, Sunflower bonds with the family's only child, Bronze, who has not spoken since being traumatized by a terrible fire.

One day John and Martha, a young couple, find a boy asleep on their porch. The boy is unable to speak and explain who he is, so they choose to care for the boy and embrace his exuberant spirit and talents.

This unusual novel, set in New Zealand, concentrates on three people: Kerewin Holmes, a part-Maori painter who has chosen to isolate herself in a tower she built from lottery winnings; Simon, a troubled and mysterious little boy; and Joe Gillayley, the Maori factory worker who is Simon's foster father. Elements of Maori myth and culture are woven into the novel's exploration of the passions and needs that bind these three people together, for good or ill. It's not easy reading, but the story is compelling despite its stylistic eccentricities and great length. The novel is the winner of the Pegasus Prize.