School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up-In a future dystopia, Whisper, the eponymous narrator, is born with a cleft palate. Like anyone with a physical or metal disability in this future civilization, she is abandoned by her parents at birth and raised in a forest camp under the guidance and protection of Nathanael, an "unblemished" man who shuns civilization for reasons of his own. Despite privations, Whisper and her fellow "rejects" thrive in their forest home and have formed a close, familial connection with one another. The other members of her "tribe" include a one-armed sculptor named Jeremia, a tiny girl with webbed fingers and toes named Eva, and a baby named Ranita who has a cleft palate just like Whisper herself. The teen quickly becomes baby Ranita's mother figure. Whisper's own mother visits only once per year, on Whisper's birthday. This year, she has forgone her annual visit and instead sends a gift: a violin. The instument proves life-changing for Whisper. Just beyond their enclave are hints of a devastating ecological peril, likely caused by the industrial practices of SWINC, a ubiquitous corporate entity. Although a direct link is not made, it seems clear that the rapid rise in birth defects can be laid at SWINC's door. This raises some fascinating moral and geopolitical issues for class discussion. An equally profound theme is the nature of family: What do we do when our family abandons us, when all of our assumptions about parental love are turned on their head? Whisper will enthrall, horrify, and anger young readers, but it should also give them a sense that they can create their own destinies.-Nina Sachs, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.