Listening to the Silence

Una Fairchild is the quintessential outsider. At 12 she is invisible to everyone around her, including her foster mother who would rather talk to her cats than the child in her care. Una spends as much time as possible holed up in the library basement in the same spot. So when she finds a hooded figure in her usual spot and he refuses to acknowledfe her she is greatly upset. She is even more upset when she discovers a mysterious book with her name on it. Even more upsetting than that is discovering herself pulled into the book itself, where she learns that there is a whole other world populated with all the characters that make up all of our stories. But Story is in danger and she might be the only one able to save it.

This is the first book in a series meant for middle readers, between the ages of 9-12. It is an engaging fantasy full of adventure, heroism, and danger that should delight any reader of that age, particularly girls. As an adult I found the story a bit simplistic, though I was still entertained and in many ways see my 12 year old self in Una. I wasn't thrilled with the ending and found that too much was left dangling for my taste. I prefer, even books in a series to have a more pulled together ending and not end with a massive cliffhanger. I am, however, planning to read the next book, if only because of how much I liked Una and curiosity.