Whisper.

Struyk-Bonn, Chris.  Whisper.  Orca  2014  338  $12.95      ISBN 978-1-4598-0475-3  jr/sr  Science fiction  E-BN 

Whisper was born with a cleft palate, and at this time the world is a place where any handicap is seen as a societal problem, and the people born with infirmities are abandoned in the forest or left to die.  The families of these children are looked upon as suspects.  Whisper was one of the fortunate children.  She lived in an encampment deep inside the forest.  Nathaniel, a good soul with no imperfections, has abandoned his life in the city to help the less fortunate.  He has raised a group of children with various kinds of handicaps, and has always been ready to accept anyone who came to his camp.  The only one who ever had a visitor was Whisper.  The last time Whisper saw her mother she received the gift of a violin for her birthday.  Through this violin, Whisper discovers music by listening to the woods, the trees and the wind.  She is musically gifted, and she can imitate any sound and also create her own music.  It is this talent that changes her life.

It is jarring to realize that the setting of this story is a modern-day world in the not-too-distant future, in a wilderness on the edge of civilization.  The first chapter leads you to believe the story takes place in a world unknown to us, but then reality intrudes and the setting is revealed.  It is a world where people have cell phones and airplanes, but the cruel ritual of getting rid of all the children who are disabled or disfigured in any way is also a part of everyday life.

Summary: Whisper has never entered the outside world, but she knows there is a another world where her mother lives.  Her life is turned upside down when they come for her and she is pushed into a world of unimaginable dangers.  

Dystopian novels, Disabilities-Fiction                      --Magna Diaz