Article Title
Keywords
Mystery, Death, Family, Mental Health, Homosexuality, Intermediate, Outstanding
Document Type
Book Review
Abstract
Riley's mother is gone, and the pain and devastation of her absence has immobilized his family. Riley feels that people blame him, and his friends are starting to think he's crazy for believing that his mother is alive. Acting on a story his mother told him about the whispers, magical beings who grant a heart's desire, Riley leaves them tribute, voicing aloud his longing to find his mother. The whispers don't answer, even as he follow the signs he thinks they send. Soon he has nothing left to give, and he offers up his soul. When he passes out from fatigue and awakens on his mother's grave, he accepts what happened. His mother died of cancer, and he feels responsible because he thinks that the shock of his budding sexual orientation killed her. With the truth, Riley can begin to make a new life by letting go of the whispers of the people around him, and maybe even the things that he whispers to himself.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Abbott, Karen
(2020)
"The Whispers,"
Children's Book and Media Review: Vol. 41:
Iss.
7, Article 22.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cbmr/vol41/iss7/22