Chelsea Knott can't seem to keep a secret, no matter what's
at stake.
She's been the best friend of high school popularity queen
Kristen Courteau for several years and pretty much likes her
position. As Kristen's best friend she's invited to all the
best parties and gets to hang out with all the most popular
kids in school. However, Chelsea's own popularity comes at a
price because she tends to be able to ferret out important
secrets and use them to her and Kristen's advantage.
Then, one night everything changes. There's a New Year's Eve
party at Kristen's while her parents are out of town, and
Chelsea has lied to her own parents in order to get to
attend. At the party is Brendan, the guy that makes
Chelsea's heart thud and puts butterflies in her stomach.
She's so thrilled because he's actually paying attention to
her. In fact, she's so happy and nervous that she drinks a
bit too much.
As she heads into Kristen's guest room to get to the
bathroom in there, she accidentally stumbles onto something
she was never meant to see. It's such a huge secret that she
forgets all about feeling as if she were going to throw up
from the alcohol. Instead, she races back downstairs to tell
everyone what she's witnessed. Because she does this,
someone is nearly killed.
Chelsea is so ashamed of the part she played in the events
that unfold that she decides to take a vow of silence. The
way she looks at it, if she's not talking, there's no risk
that she'll tell anything that will hurt someone. Besides,
it's not like she has any friends left. All of her old
friends hate her; including Kristen, because of everything
that happened, so who does she really have to talk to anyway?
Oddly enough, by not talking, she meets new people that know
what she did and don't hate her. Her new friends don't mince
their own words with her, but they also are open to
forgiving someone when that person is genuinely sorry for
doing something wrong. These are people that she never would
have looked twice at in her Kristen days, but now she sees
the difference between using someone and really being a
friend. On top of that, there's someone else that just may
want to be her boyfriend if she'll only let him. Who would
have thought that the worst mistake of her life would lead
to a new and happier life?
SPEECHLESS has a story to tell besides just the obvious one.
There are many layers to this plot and each one is as
important as the next. Hanna Harrington does an excellent
job of getting inside the heads of today's teens right down
to the language. It's hard to believe that kids today are so
very cruel to each other and that they're allowed to be by
the authorities. Ms. Harrington gives her readers a
clear look into what goes on today. There are lessons
to be learned in SPEECHLESS and they're presented in a
rather interesting and entertaining manner. SPEECHLESS will
remain with you long after the book is closed.
Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret
Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her
into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.
Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her
mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she
thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's
ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.
But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who
are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed
before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new
friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can
forgive herself.
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