Talk to Me

Enjoyed greatly by 9 year old daughter. A strong main character who's relatable, especially in her relationships. A fantastic plot that kept her glued to the ereader, in fact she found it very hard to put down.
A good sign is that she's asked me to buy a physical copy to read again and again.

Not perfect, but very readable short novel about a girl whose mother is facing prison after being framed for embezzlement. Tied up within that, she also suspects her best friend of software theft and her sister (who has select mutism) of letting her imagination get carried away with her concerning her mechanical cat.

Talk to Me, by Sonia Ellis/illus. by Evanleigh Davis (2014, FastPencil) $16.99, ISBN: 9781619338821

Recommended for ages 9-14

Seven year-old Maddie Reyes is a selective mute. She can talk up a storm around her mom, dad, and older sister, Sadina. She tells all of her secrets to Bella, her robotic cat. But get her outside of her family circle, and she cannot speak. Sadina, her older sister, protects her and takes care of her as much as she can, but she can't be with Maddie all the time.

One night, Maddie discovers an intruder in the house - an intruder who knows about Maddie. When Maddie and Sadina's mother is accused of a corporate crime, Sadina thinks her friend Rio is behind it, but Maddie knows the truth. And now, she's not talking at all. To find out what Maddie knows, Sadina will have to team up with her friends and find a way to make Bella, the one friend that Maddie will still speak to, talk back to Maddie.

This book drew me in right away. I love there character diversity- let's hear it for a Latina heroine!; I found it fascinating that Ms. Ellis made Maddie a selective mute, and how she worked that into the meat of the plot. The story's pace will keep a middle grader's attention, and there's enough tension in the book to keep readers guessing and thinking overtime. This is a great book for discussion groups; there's so much to cover here. From disabilities that aren't readily visible to corporate espionage, to the reality of animating a robotic pet, this book would be a great collaborative reading assignment for English and Science classes.

There are frequent references to technology in the book - Maddie and Sadina's mother is an engineer, working on a new cellphone battery; Sadina and her friends are very handy in the tech lab; Rio wants new design software - but I'm not sure that qualifies this as a STEM Mystery. It's a good story with STEM references.

Evanleigh Davis' illustrations bring a real innocence to Maddie's character. Her large eyes, seemingly forever gazing upward, make her look small and bewildered. Every illustration is filled with character and adds another dimension to the storytelling.

I think this will be a good book to get on the shelves at my library this summer. It's the first book in a new series, and anything to do with kids using technology to solve problems is a book I want to have at the kids' fingertips.

Sadina has a sister with selected mutism, Maddie. Maddie will only talk to her sister and parents besides her robotic cat named Bella. Sadina is enjoying her life except when Maddie disappears on her. She thinks life would be perfect if she had a normal sister. Much to Sabrina's surprise, she finds Maddie is the least of her concerns. Her mother is under suspicion for embezzlement and may be arrested if the evidence points to it. Will Sabrina be able to prove her mother's innocence? Meanwhile her best friend, Rio, has been accused of stealing software from his class at school. Did he? Why doesn't Rio talk to her?

This is an excellent story that is well paced with mysteries and relationships. It also deals with making choices. How does one know what is the best choice to make? It is not always easy to decide or is it?

'Talk to Me' by Sonia Ellis is a pretty decent young person novel. I liked it enough if I don't think too hard about it.

Sadina has a younger sister named Maddie who is selective with who she talks to. Maddie will talk with her parents, her older sister, and her robotic cat, Bella. Maddie discovers an intruder in her house one night and now she won't even talk to her family. The intruder stole an invention that Bella and Sadina's mom is working on, and now mom is about to be arrested by her company. Sadina decides to turn to her smart friends to see if they can find a way to get Bella to talk. The problem is one of her friends has a secret that is causing Sadina trust issues. So, with her family in turmoil and a friend acting suspicious, can Sadina find a solution?

Some of the elements of the story seem a little science fictional (talking cat, cell phone battery technology), but the story seems to take place in the present. Maddie's condition is a real one, and I like how it's presented in the story. Sadina tells the story, but Maddie has a few chapters, so we get a glimpse into how she sees the world. The book included some illustrations that were a bit hard to view on an e-reader, and I wasn't crazy about them. They detracted from the story for me, but I can see how they might be necessary in a story for younger readers. I'd say the age range for the book is pre-teen readers probably in the 10-12 age range.

I received a review copy of this ebook from FastPencil, Wavecrest, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

This is an intriguing mystery story for elementary and middle grade children. Fourteen year old Sadina's seven year old sister Maddie, has selective mutism and won't speak to anyone other than her immediate family and Bella, her electronic cat. When Maddie witnesses an intruder in her home, she is unable to speak to even her own family, and without her explanation of what she saw, her mother could go to jail. The story has some interesting issues and I think that young readers will enjoy it. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.