Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A Book That Includes a Nonverbal Character

Any book written by or about Helen Keller would work!
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
Helen Keller by Margaret Davidson
Helen Keller's Teacher by Margaret Davidson

Goodreads Listopia to help:
Non Speaking Main Characters Books

Listopia is HERE

I don't see that the character has to be human, so any book with a pet should qualify. Murder Takes the Stage has two pet dogs in it, so that is one recommendation.

Greek Lessons by Han Kang

Happiness Falls is one from the past few years that fits.

Brandon wrote: "I don't see that the character has to be human, so any book with a pet should qualify. Murder Takes the Stage has two pet dogs in it, so that is one recommendation."

Good point! Although I could argue that I've had cats and dogs who could communicate quite adequately without words! LOL

I might go down the non human route too, but I've enjoyed a couple of books with characters with selective mutism. Daughter of the Merciful Deep and A Quiet Kind of Thunder.

I loved Chouette by Claire Oshetsky so I highly recommend.

other books I've read that fit the theme:

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

The Obscene Bird of Night by Jose Donoso

Planet Earth Is Blue is great

Brandon wrote: "I don't see that the character has to be human, so any book with a pet should qualify. Murder Takes the Stage has two pet dogs in it, so that is one recommendation."

that's my plan. I know i have those types of book sitting on my shelves. Even google didn't bring up many books for this (not even the Helen Keller ones listed above so I'm really side eyeing it hard right now)

Too bad I already read Happiness Falls. It's the perfect fit. And I can't find anything else that really interests me, this category may be a struggle for me.



I'm also not sure what "nonverbal" means. Does it mean a person who does not communicate? or a person who does not speak out loud? Do books like The Silent Patient & The Shape of Water count? Can I read a book with a deaf character who uses ESL?

Are there books about aliens who cannot communicate?



I found this list of books with deaf characters: https://modcast.blog/2023/01/15/ranke...

Nadine, nonverbal means a person who does not speak. Disabled communities, researchers, medical professionals, and so on have begun using this term instead of or in addition to the term mute, which I think will be familiar to most people. Groups who use both words do not all agree on when to use nonverbal and when to use mute, and I think the "best" approach is outside the scope of a reading challenge. Some ways I think this could be approached are a choosing character who doesn't speak due to physical or developmental disability, trauma, situational triggers like a phobia, or even by choice, such as taking a vow of silence.

Many deaf people do speak, so I personally wouldn't rely on a deaf character to also qualify for this without more information. :)

Watching Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness tonight I realized any of the Black Bolt, Vol. 1: Hard Time books would work if you want to go the graphic novel route.

I'm reading Open Throat which has a (I assume) non-verbal mountain lion as its main character

Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer

Archer's Voice

LeahS wrote: "I'm reading Open Throat which has a (I assume) non-verbal mountain lion as its main character"



Yes I read that and indeed the mountain lion does not speak!

I plan to read When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohamed; Victoria Jamieson, a memoir in graphic form, surrounding a young boy taking care of his younger, nonverbal brother in a refugee camp.

Gallant by Victoria E. Schwab would be perfect for this. Also Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson has a side character who is non-verbal.

Would Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson count? The main character becomes nonverbal as a trauma response.

Josie wrote: "Also Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson has a side character who is non-verbal."
Tress is amazing. Love it.

LeahS wrote: "I'm reading Open Throat which has a (I assume) non-verbal mountain lion as its main character"

In that case, The Call of the Wild by Jack London fits. Buck the dog is non-verbal.

How did I forget The Stand by Stephen King? Nick, a main viewpoint character, is deaf and nonverbal.

Also, I read True Biz by Sara Nović as my "Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Author" book this year. Excellent story, and many of the characters, including two viewpoint characters, are nonverbal or functionally nonverbal.

I'm definitely going to read
Out of My Mind

One of my book groups was introduced to it by a 4th grade teacher in the group who uses it with her class. It is also used in other classes in my local schools. Word is kids love it and I'd see what he buzz is about

Cosmogyral wrote: "Nadine, nonverbal means a person who does not speak. Disabled communities, researchers, medical professionals, and so on have begun using this term instead of or in addition to the term mute, which..."

Thank you, that was very helpful!

Cosmogyral wrote: "Nadine, nonverbal means a person who does not speak. Disabled communities, researchers, medical professionals, and so on have begun using this term instead of or in addition to the term mute, which..."

Thank you for this!

Dea wrote: "Would Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson count? The main character becomes nonverbal as a trauma response."

This is the recommendation I would make - I read that this year.

Also Mags was nonverbal in Catching Fire

I was considering the animal route -

A Dog's Purpose
A Dog's Journey
A Dog's Way Home

I also have a ton of horse biographies on my TBR.

I second Open Throat. Soooo good and a quick read. And I also read True Biz this year, and yes, I believe that would work even though I think I recall a handful of scenes where a nonverbal character would speak a word or two aloud for emphasis etc.

I'm currently reading If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha for the 2024 challenge (A Book about K-Pop), and one of the central characters is non-verbal due to trauma (both physical and emotional).

Grace wrote: "I'm currently reading If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha for the 2024 challenge (A Book about K-Pop), and one of the central characters is non-verbal due to trauma (both physical and..."



That is a PERFECT choice!!! I really liked that book and I forgot about the one character being nonverbal after an injury.

According to the description, Citadel has a main character who's a nonverbal autistic. If you like sci-fi fantasy, this could work!

A character in Olive Kitteridge is nonverbal following a stroke for a portion of the book.

Grace wrote: "I'm currently reading If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha for the 2024 challenge (A Book about K-Pop), and one of the central characters is non-verbal due to trauma (both physical and..."

Me too Grace, didn't even think about that character being non verbal, but it totally fits this prompt! I'm really enjoying it more than I anticipated.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come doesn't talk.

And The Trumpet of the Swan is an amazing children's book about a mute trumpeter swan. I loved it much more than Charlotte's Web or Stuart Little.

Need to break out of the box that it needs to be a human character.

Many books feature houses and other structures that are full characters though non-verbal:

A Discovery of Witches - house outside Syracuse - appears in last third of book
The Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrews - The Inn is a full main character and non-verbal - also Beastie, the dog. Note: first in series a tad weak. Second and rest are terrific - you can start with 2nd I think. I understand the first was a freebie written as a limited time download offer years ago, but proved so popular that the publisher pressed for it to be published and turned into a series.
White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi - house is a main character

Also - HP books - Hogwarts and other locations were actual characters, as were many many animals.

Didn't Stephen King write more than one book featuring a main character that is non-verbal - like a car?

Of course there are lots of books where an animal or magical creature are non-verbal characters.

I'm not sure what I want to read for this.

I read Gallant but was disappointed - it was nowhere near as good as her usual work. Lots of plot holes.

There are a billion Little Mermaid retellings and most of them if not all would have nonverbal characters. Hexed is popular now and I recently read Silence: Little Mermaid Retold

Ugh! Sometimes I'm ridiculous! The book I'm reading *right now* has a nonverbal character (at least through the first half):Pointe. It's heavy though. The MC's best friend was kidnapped and miraculously returns home, but he's not talking. I can't save it until next year as it's due in 2 days, but so far, I would recommend it.

Just remembered a book I read at the beginning of the year would work for this prompt- A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. The main character's closest friend doesn't speak, and they use that to spy on people since a lot of people misinterpret that to mean he can't hear or can't understand what's going on.

There's a sequel I've been meaning to get to, so if he's shows up again I'll use it for the prompt!

I just started Wandering Stars and the main character in the first part, Jude Star, is non-verbal, so I set that book aside so I can finish it in 2025. (I, personally, only count books that I finish in 2025 for the 2025 challenge - you all can handle it in any way that works for you.)

I just finished reading "The Phone Box at the Edge of the World," where one of the main characters has a daughter wha has stopped speaking as a trauma response and remains non-verbal for the first part of the book.
The book could also count as healing fiction, I think.

Since it doesn't specifically say humans or animals, I'm going with a nature book. Rick McEntyre just released this book in October so it seems like the perfect time to get to it.

Thinking Like a Wolf: Lessons From the Yellowstone Packs

I don't think anyone has talked about a baby being used for this prompt, but I would think they'd be considered nonverbal. Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall has a major character, James, who is a newborn.

Linda wrote: "I don't think anyone has talked about a baby being used for this prompt, but I would think they'd be considered nonverbal. Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall has a major character, Jame..." Nice interpretation!

Linda wrote: "I don't think anyone has talked about a baby being used for this prompt, but I would think they'd be considered nonverbal. Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall has a major character, Jame..."

That's cool. Hadn't thought of that.

I'm not really a baby person. Never around them until now. First time aunt so while it's been a major adjustment for me, I've certainly been curious about his developmental stages. I never thought I would be fascinated with that stuff. LOL!

Still not enough to get me wanting kids of my own, but it's been fascinating observing him and his interactions, it's been interesting to see his facial expressions as you can see his mind is thinking things out even though he's not vocal the way we are.

Ron wrote: "Linda wrote: "I don't think anyone has talked about a baby being used for this prompt, but I would think they'd be considered nonverbal. Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall has a major c..."




If you ever want to read nonfiction about baby thoughts, I really enjoyed What's Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life

Cool thanks for that rec.

I was struggling with this prompt when I first seen it...and, then I read through all the comments and I have two of the books listed:

*If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
*The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer

And, I also just came across - The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer - there is a character who is born "voiceless"

HAPPY READING!!

I'm reading The Sword of the Lictor right now (I was supposed to finish this book in 2024 but I've only just started it) and the main character's partner/wife, Dorcas, just stopped talking. I've read this book before but I can't remember if she remains nonverbal throughout - if yes (even if it's just a huge chunk of the book), I'm using this!