A fascinating book about adolescence, anxiety and mental health. I think students will enjoy Elise's intriguing story as she describes her struggles with fitting in and speaking up.

After Zero is a beautiful story of someone who cannot summon the power of words. She learns that silence is safer in her world as speaking has caused her many problems. Elise must learn to cope with a tragedy she never knew and find a way to share her words with the world around her.

What a great story - I read it in one day, I wanted to find out what happened to Elise and her family! Elise keeps a tally of how many words she speaks per day, she has spoken two or three words a day, she might answer a teacher’s question, and she rarely speaks to her mother. Elsie reads when she sits with some other girls at the lunch table, and she likes to hide out at the library.
One day, Elsie meets two new friends, Conn and Finola Karney, a brother and sister who were homeschooled like her, and she is asked by the guidance counselor to help them adjust to being in a public school.
Elise is new to being in public school this year, she has a hard time being accepted by others, even her old friend Mel has a hard time with Elise’s silence. Elise also says things without thinking about what she is saying and this means she is easily bullied and intimidated by others.
One day Elise finds out about a secret her mother has kept hidden for many years, you will have to read the story for yourself to find out what the secret is and how it changes Elise’s life!

4.5? Wow, this one was so hard for me at the beginning.. the pain of silence is so tangibly heavy and so stifling I was having a visceral reaction to it (which is likely a sign at how well this was done!). I was grasping for her voice and for silence to be broken in the story. As the mystery picked up I found myself diving in and I ended up liking the magical realism? (Maybe not what I should call some of the more fantastical parts?) more than I thought I would. I’m not saying it hit out of the park 5 stars just because I felt the ending was too quick and perhaps too neat. That being said, this own-voices perspective of selective mutism was raw and lovely.. I would definitely pass this one on to students. I will say that it recs for 8 and up, but I would say 9+ because of some of the intense moments and themes. Great read!

This is a very readable story with a main character, Elise, who is strong and very likable. At first readers may wonder that she does not speak because she is afraid of saying the wrong thing and become embarrassed. However, as the story progresses, and readers see how distant her relationship with her mother is, they will wonder if their first assumption was wrong. And it is. Elise’s story is tragic with a little magical element added in. This is a great choice for realistic fiction fans.