June 20, 2022
In a contemporary fable that draws inspiration from medieval European folklore, young Silas—bullied by cruel classmates due to an unspecified speech difficulty—is drawn into an epic adventure after he rescues an injured wolf from a band of talking foxes. The wolf, Isengrim, and his family are the last of their kind in the Forest that exists alongside Silas’s home. They’ve recently escaped Reynard and his fellow foxes, who enslaved them and other wolves in order to build a vast underground burrow called the City of Earth. Isengrim believes that Silas is their Wolfstongue, a child capable of speaking for the wolves so they can live “as wolves ought to live. Free from words,” and his voice does seem to snap the wolves out of the foxes’ influence. When Reynard’s elite guards kidnap Isengrim’s pups to start a new generation of enslaved workers, Silas joins with three archetypal animals to save them. In a children’s debut with a timeless feel, Thompson (Communion Town, for adults) considers the power of spoken language to both uplift and trap, employing sensory prose (“The wolf smelled like the scent that rises from dry ground at the end of a hot day when the rain begins to fall”) to effectively trace one child navigating pointed cruelty across species. Tromop’s realistic b&w illustrations add to the atmosphere. Human characters are
presumed white. Ages 8–12.
April 15, 2022
A boy with speech difficulties discovers that he can talk to animals. Sometimes, no matter how hard Silas tries to speak, the words won't come. At school, bullies call him names like Silence. And he can't tell a teacher--or even his parents, for fear of disappointing them. But when he meets Reynard, a cunning fox, and Isengrim and Hersent, a wolf couple, speaking up becomes a matter of life and death. In a magical parallel world, foxes--troublingly emulating humans--enslaved wolves and worked them to near extinction in order to construct their habitat, a city they called Earth. After escaping captivity, Isengrim and Hersent are the only wolves left. When Reynard kidnaps their pups, intending to breed a new race of slaves, Isengrim and Hersent need Silas to be their Wolfstongue, a human who speaks for them, if they are to have any hope of rescue. But can Silas find the words? Drawing on characters from medieval European fables, Thompson thoughtfully examines how words can hurt and heal, emphasizing language's powerful influence on characters' self-perception. Silas' speech difficulty is unnamed, enabling readers with a variety of similar conditions to see themselves reflected. Secondary characters, including an arrogant cat who banters with a snarky raven, add humor. Though somewhat abrupt, the ending realistically avoids a pat resolution to Silas' troubles. Tromop's realistic black-and-white illustrations accentuate the grim, mysterious atmosphere. Human characters default to White. Unusual and thought-provoking. (map, author interview) (Fantasy. 8-11)
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