In this moving account, a boy navigates "a bad speech day" with the help of his father and a visit to his "favorite place in the world."
The boy wakes each morning with "the sounds of words all around," but some are too difficult to say. One especially unbearable day, his teacher insists that he answer a question. Fortunately, after school, his dad suggests a trip to the river which moves the way the boy speaks--"bubbling, churning, whirling, and crashing" before it finds its "smooth and glistening" calm. By tying the experience of stuttering to nature, award-winning poet and stutterer Jordan Scott skillfully allows the protagonist to feel part of a grander design, and the hurt caused by a mouth that "isn't working" can be put into perspective. Sydney Smith's (Small in the City) astonishing art illuminates what is written, the impressionistic paintings bringing readers close to the boy's pain and allowing them to experience, seemingly firsthand, his solace, too. --Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI