Silent to the Bone by E.L. Konigsburg

Silent to the Bone
E.L. Konigsburg
ISBN 0-689-86715-8
261 pages
Simon Pulse, 2000

Genre: Issue Novel

Readers Annotation
After his baby sister is injured in a mysterious accident, 13-year-old Branwell stops speaking and is sent to a juvenile behavioral center, suspected of the crime. His best friend Connor is determined to find a way to get Bran to start talking again and find out what really happened.

Plot Summary
Bran and Connor have been friends since they were born. Both are the children of academics in a small university town, both are somewhat outcasts at school because of their obvious intelligence, and both come from broken and blended families. Bran's mother died when she was a baby, though his father has recently remarried and had a baby with his new wife. Connor's father left his mother for one of his graduate students; his father's daughter from his first marriage, Margaret, is in her 20s and maintains a good relationship with Connor, though her relationship with Connor's mother and their father is strained.

One day, Bran's sister's British nanny makes a hysterical 911 call; she says the baby is unconscious and accuses Bran of dropping her; the baby falls into a coma. Bran stops speaking and is sent to a juvenile behavioral center, where he is suspected of injuring his sister. Connor cannot believe that his friend is guilty of such a heinous crime and sets out to figure out what really happened. Using a series of notecards that have names and places written on them, as well as a sort of shorthand the two have developed over years of a mutual love of wordplay, Connor becomes a detective, piecing together clues after speaking to various people from Bran's life. He finds an ally in Margaret, who supports him in his quest.

Critical Evaluation
Silent to the Bone is a multi-layered work. While the mystery has many satisfying twists and turns, the book also has a deep emotional resonance. Bran and Connor's deep friendship is at the book's core; though Connor has faith in his friend's innocence, he does get frustrated that Bran cannot simply speak up and explain what really happened. The issue of family and identity is also explored. As Connor comes to understand just how deeply Bran was wounded by the remarriage of his father, he begins to understand why his older half-sister Margaret has never forgiven their father for leaving her mother.  Shame, too, is a central concept of the book; are there certain feelings, certain emotions so shameful that one would rather take the rap for something he didn't do than admit to them?

Silent to the Bone also explores the relationship young teens can have with the young adults in their life. Caught between the adult world and the child world, Bran and Connor struggle to navigate the relationships with the young adults in their lives. Connor loves how his sister Margaret treats him as an adult, but his social inexperience leads him to fail to pick up some important social clues. Bran is mystified by the beautiful British nanny who lives with his family; she is playing a game for which he does not understand the rules.

About the Author
Two-time Newbery Medal-winning author E.L. Konigsburg is perhaps best known for her children's classic From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Though she wrote children's work earlier in her career, her most recent novels have been for a young adult audience.

Other Books in the Series
While not a sequel per se, Konigsburg's next novel The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, features the character of Margaret as a 12-year-old girl.

Curriculum Ties
This book would absolutely be suited to use in a curriculum to discuss the issues of shame, family, and friendship.

Booktalking Ideas
1. Explain the book's central mystery: did Bran injure his sister? If not, who did?
2. Talk about Bran and Connor's friendship. How far will Connor go to defend his friend?
3. Talk about the complicated relationships Brand and Connor have with their families.

Reading Interest/Level
Clearly a young adult book, the book would be appropriate for young teens in junior high. However, older readers who might be discouraged by the age of the protagonists should be encouraged to pick it up, too. There are a lot of mature themes here that will be interesting and relevant to older teens, and because Connor and Bran are so mature, Connor's point of view reads more like an adult than a teen.

Challenge Issues
Bran and Connor are teenage boys, and their budding sexuality is frankly (though not graphically) acknowledged in the novel. In a predatory scene, the older British nanny tries to seduce Bran. These scenes are absolutely crucial to the book's message and power, though some may find them offensive. Should the book be challenged, the librarian should be aware of the library's selection policy and be able to explain and defend it to the challenger. Silent to the Bones' laundry list of awards--an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Booklist Editors' Choice, a SLJ Best Book--as well as its multiple starred reviews could be used as evidence to prove the book's worth.

Selection Criteria
While browsing the YA section of a used book store, I came across this title. I remembered reading Konigsburg's books for children and saw that this title was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.