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Children's Fiction Runaways

Voiceless

by (author) Caroline Wissing

Publisher
Thistledown Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2012
Category
Runaways
Recommended Age
15 to 18
Recommended Grade
10 to 12
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781897235980
    Publish Date
    Mar 2012
    List Price
    $15.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781927068250
    Publish Date
    Mar 2012
    List Price
    $9.99

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Description

Voiceless is a coming-of-age novel with a twist: it features a teen runaway who has no speaking voice.
Nicknamed Ghost, runaway teen Annabel's interaction with her world is limited to how well she can convey her wants and feelings to others, and how intuitive the other characters are in interpreting her expressions and gestures.
Danger lurks in many places and she faces harrowing situations when she leaves her foster home with a tough and messed up boy and hitchhikes to the city.
Once there, the danger intensifies as she confronts a rounder who expects sex in return for shelter.
How she survives without her voice adds significant tension to the story.
What has driven Ghost to the road is love.
She misses her mother's love, and felt her grandmother's love was inadequate.
In her quest, she finds Mary who rescues her and other runaways, just as she rescues abused horses.
It is Mary who gives her a chance to rediscover the peace that can be found in nature and allows Ghost to discover her love of horses - but she seeks a more intimate love and mistakenly overlooks Tully who would protect her and respect her, in favour of Graydon who would do neither.
It is Graydon, damaged by an abusive past, who seeks the respect and approval of an older abusive rounder and in the process endangers Ghost both physically and emotionally.
Further conflict arises when another runaway begins to compete for Graydon's attention and Ghost learns that life on the road is harsh, complicated and as confusing as the love she seeks.
As realization comes, so too does the understanding of why it is Tully she should be with and why Mary offers hope.
Learning to distinguish those who want to use her from those who offer genuine protection and care about her brings back Annabel's clear voice permanently, and offers her a chance at a future.

About the author

Caroline Wissing has a BA in English Literature from Queen’s University as well as a diploma in Print Journalism. She became a technical editor and writer in Ottawa’s intermittently thriving software industry, where she has worked for more than 12 years. Two of her stories, “Surrender” and “Gemini”, received second and third place in Ottawa’s Audrey Jessup short crime fiction contest. Voiceless is her first novel.

Caroline Wissing's profile page

Librarian Reviews

Voiceless

A coming-of-age novel featuring Annabel, a teen runaway who does not speak. Mistakenly, she leaves the safety of a foster home, where horses and other foster kids keep her grounded, and ends up on the run with Graydon and Cooper, two boys who put her in real danger. When she realizes the love she sought was there all along, she must find her way back to where she belongs.

Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Best Books for Kids & Teens. Spring, 2012.