After Zero

by Christina Collins

This award winning book offers kids an authentic depiction of selective mutism and a story of the experience of middle school interactions and mental illness.
Elise carries a notebook full of tallies, each page marking a day spent at her new public school, each stroke of her pencil marking a word spoken. A word that can't be taken back. Five tally marks isn't so bad. Two is pretty good. But zero? Zero is perfect. Zero means no wrong answers called out in class, no secrets accidentally spilled, no conversations to agonize over at night when sleep is far away.
But now months have passed, and Elise isn't sure she could speak even if she wanted to—not to keep her only friend, Mel, from drifting further away—or to ask if anyone else has seen her English teacher's stuffed raven come to life. Then, the discovery of a shocking family secret helps Elise realize that her silence might just be the key to unlocking everything she's ever hoped for...
A 2019 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
A 2018 Cybils Nominee
A Texas Lone Star Reading List title
"Powerful and poetic."—John David Anderson, author of Posted and Ms. Bixby's Last Day
"This tender and truthful book stays with you long after the words have gone."—Patricia Forde, author of The List
"A must read. After Zero reminds us of so many loved ones of those suffering from anxiety or depressive disorders. It is a story that will hopefully foster empathy and maybe even communication with our 'quiet' peers."—Wesley King, author of OCDaniel
Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 to 7
Great for parents and educators looking for:A story that addresses middle school social interactions, grief, loss and mental illnessA story that depicts selective mutism authentically

• ISBN10: 1492655325
• ISBN13: 9781492655329
• Publish Date: 4 September 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

After a rocky transition from homeschooling to attending her local middle school, Elsie decided it was better for her to stay silent than to commit any more social faux pas. However, the longer she stayed "quiet", the harder it got for her to communicate when necessary. Elise struggled with anxiety, bullies, an absent parent, and family secrets, but eventually she was able to find her "voice".

I never had any sort of mutism, but I suffer from anxiety and find social situations quite stressful. Therefore, I was able to relate to Elsie, and I found her struggles very realistic. There were several times, during the story, where I swear I felt my heart race as I experienced her anxiety second-hand.

Not only could I relate and empathized with Elsie's emotions at school, but I also had a lot of sympathy for her. Her home life was not so great. Her mother was cold, distant, and sometimes, neglectful. The signs of depression were there, but Elsie never quite understood her mother's situation. When she finally got to the truth of the matter, my heart broke in half.

Things were tough at home and school, and the less Elsie spoke, the more her support system crumbled. She had a best friend, Mel, whom she had been close with, but Mel began to tire of defending Elsie, and they started to grow apart. Enter Conn. Another homeschooled kid, who was new to the middle school. I loved that little bird watching kid. He was very sweet and patient, and he did give Elsie benefit of the doubt, for the most part.

Besides Conn, there were a lot of other things I really enjoyed in this story. I loved that it was pro-therapy. Both mom and eventually, Elsie, begin therapy, and they were taking those steps to improve their mental health.

I absolutely adored the ending, that Collins gave Elsie. The final chapter had a lot of positive things happening within its pages, and the epilogue just kept that fabulous vibe going. I was so happy that Elsie was able to find her voice again, via therapy and writing. It was wonderful to get that peek at her in the future too, because it let me see all the progress she had made.

Overall: I absolutely adored Elsie, and thought Collins did a beautiful job bringing me into her world.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[Leah]

This was such an interesting read - you have no idea how many times I’ve wanted the ground to swallow me up because I’ve said something I wasn’t supposed to or I’ve put my foot in it completely and I completely related to Elise. I don’t know a lot about mutism and so this really opened my eyes, especially with all of the side effects and other things going on.

I just wanted to hug her, because her life was just so awful like her mom not really being very affectionate and not celebrating her birthday and her so-called friends being jerks because why not? It honestly made me want to cry because I can relate to that second one so hard. I had friends who weren’t proper friends, who could be mean for no reason.

A really sweet, eye-opening read.