Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher - OPTIONAL

Pitcher, Annabel Silence is Goldfish, 341 pgs. Little, Brown and Company, 2015.  $17.99.  Language: R (46 swears, 0 ”f”); Mature Content PG-13; Violence: G.

Tess is a fifteen year old who has just discovered that her father may not be her biological father after all.  Instead of confronting anyone in her family, Tess retreats into silence and becomes mute.  Tess runs away, but only gets as far as a convenience store where she buys running away supplies that includes a flashlight in the shape of a goldfish.  Tess returns home but spends the rest of the book trying to figure out who her real father might be.  

I had a hard time with the premise.  Tess has really loving parents, so even if she finds her biological father is a sperm donor, is that mute worthy?  And looking for men who might resemble you and be your father around every corner seems like juvenile thinking for a girl in high school.  For the first part of the book I wondered if Tess had mental disabilities, since her only communication is with her goldfish flashlight.  The secrets Tess uncovers just don’t seem earth shattering enough to warrant her responses.

HS-OPTIONAL.  Michelle in the Middle