Silent History, The - Softcover

Terrific. "The Wall Street Journal"

Ingenious . . . A richly textured vision of a dystopian future. "Publishers Weely (Starred Review)"

Fascinating. "Liz Colville, San Francisco Chronicle"

A sprawling, captivating work. "Dave Thier, Forbes"

Brilliant . . . A vital work of art. "The Huffington Post""

"Terrific." --The Wall Street Journal

"Ingenious . . . A richly textured vision of a dystopian future." --Publishers Weely (Starred Review)

"Fascinating." --Liz Colville, San Francisco Chronicle

"A sprawling, captivating work." --Dave Thier, Forbes

"Brilliant . . . A vital work of art." --The Huffington Post

A generation of children forced to live without words.

It begins as a statistical oddity: a spike in children born with acute speech delays. Physically normal in every way, these children never speak and do not respond to speech; they don't learn to read, don't learn to write. As the number of cases grows to an epidemic level, theories spread. Maybe it's related to a popular antidepressant; maybe it's environmental. Or maybe these children have special skills all their own.

The Silent History unfolds in a series of brief testimonials from parents, teachers, friends, doctors, cult leaders, profiteers, and impostors (everyone except, of course, the children themselves), documenting the growth of the so-called silent community into an elusive, enigmatic force in itself—alluring to some, threatening to others. Both a bold storytelling experiment and a propulsive reading experience, Eli Horowitz, Matthew Derby, and Kevin Moffett's The Silent History is at once thrilling, timely, and timeless.