When the music stops, the rest is silence.: seanan

When the music stops, the rest is silence.

I've spoken before about how much I read, and about how much I seek for representation in fiction, both for myself, and for the sake of the people that I care about. How much it hurts when you're the token, or invisible, or the person that doesn't exist. How hard it is to accept that somehow, often through no fault of your own, you're the sort of person who doesn't get to be the star of stories, or even a major supporting character. And about how wonderful it is when that somehow, against all odds, you open a book and see yourself, or your friends.

Yesterday, I read Silence, by Michelle Sagara. She's a fellow DAW author, a sweet, smart lady, and an all-around neat person whom I adore both personally and professionally. But before yesterday, I have never wanted to hug her for an hour and thank her forever.

Silence is a solid, interestingly-told YA novel that seems, superficially, to be just another wave in the current flood of YA supernatural. Being a wave isn't bad; I write urban fantasy, I am basically sponsoring a surfing competition. But there's something wonderful about diving into a wave and discovering infinitely more.

Emma, our protagonist, talks to dead people. She has several close female friends, including Allison, who would be a stereotypical geek in some stories, and Amy, who would be just as stereotypically a mean girl. Yet they work, and they make sense, because they are genuinely written as people. It's not presented as criminal to be smart, or to be pretty: it's just who you are. Emma's greatest asset is her niceness, a genuine generosity of spirit that is so very rare in heroines today. She reminded me of Vixy, and that's about the highest praise I have.

But really, where this book won me, and why I recommend it so readily, was when we met Michael. Michael, who is a high-functioning autistic who has been going to school with Emma and the others since kindergarten. Michael, who is in advanced math and science classes and doing just fine, thank you. Michael, whose friends care about him and look out for him, and who value his friendship and his place in their lives. He is presented with limitations, but so is every other character in the book. He's presented as a person, and for that alone, I will love Michelle forever.

Read Silence. Read it because it's awesome, and read it because any author who includes a complex, well-written, believable, believably autistic central character deserves our applause, and book sales are the best form of clapped hands, for an author.

My hat is off to her.

reedrover

May 9 2012, 20:51:39 UTC 5 years ago

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Thank you for the recommendation! I appreciate you taking the time to explain why this book is good, and why we should buy and read it. (Not like I don't already LOVE Michelle Siguara for the Chronicles of Elantra series, but...)

I will buy it TODAY... and read it when I'm done with Grave Mercy...

seanan_mcguire

May 9 2012, 20:54:38 UTC 5 years ago

Yay!

5 years ago

sheistheweather

May 9 2012, 21:02:08 UTC 5 years ago

Definitely going to read it.

Thank you for the in-depth review of why it's worth it.

vixyish

May 9 2012, 21:16:02 UTC 5 years ago

On my list it goes!

May 9 2012, 21:17:59 UTC 5 years ago

judifilksign

May 9 2012, 21:25:08 UTC 5 years ago

I will have to check this book out. Thanks for the recommendation.

May 9 2012, 21:30:42 UTC 5 years ago

I just want every family I know with an autistic kid to have this in their library, for when it's time to break out the YA.

melissajm

May 9 2012, 21:57:21 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you.

May 10 2012, 17:44:20 UTC 5 years ago

Very welcome.

corinneduyvis

May 9 2012, 22:31:14 UTC 5 years ago

I am autistic and struggle to think of ANY autistic character in fiction that doesn't make me wince.

So... this gives me hope. I'll check it out. Thank you.

May 10 2012, 17:44:42 UTC 5 years ago

I really love how Michael is written. Not handled, because he's not handled; he's a person, and it's amazing.

calico_reaction

May 9 2012, 22:39:36 UTC 5 years ago

I'm hoping to pick this up when my TBR gets a wee bit more manageable. Glad to hear it's such a home run for you!

May 10 2012, 17:44:53 UTC 5 years ago

I was thrilled.

Deleted comment

May 10 2012, 17:49:40 UTC 5 years ago

kat_merle

May 10 2012, 00:21:34 UTC 5 years ago

I love her for some of the other books she has written but I will definitely bump this to the top of the must buy list so I can read it and pass it along to a friend who has recently been struggling with the stresses of being a parent of an autistic child so she can share it with him. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

May 10 2012, 17:52:35 UTC 5 years ago

Of course.

thebluerose

May 10 2012, 00:50:39 UTC 5 years ago

Im guessing but its possible she uses her own son as a model for this character. She has been blogging about her experiences with him from a baby, and how they learned to deal together as a family. He has Aspergers to some reasonable level and I found it really very interesting.

So there may be an added element of 'real' and that would be why. She is on LJ

http://msagara.livejournal.com/

amber_fool

May 10 2012, 01:47:33 UTC 5 years ago

I was going to recommend that - I have no experience with anyone on the spectrum, but it's been fascinating reading her posts about how she and her family have raised her son to be just a person in control of his world, who happens to have a different perspective.

I haven't read Silence yet (no disposable income, and no disposable time with moving and disability applications), but none of her books (Sun Sword, Elantra, or Sundered) have ever disappointed me.

thedragonweaver

peachtales

May 10 2012, 01:49:30 UTC 5 years ago

I've requested it from the (very excellent) local library. They already have it on order, which made me happy.

May 10 2012, 17:53:31 UTC 5 years ago

biguglymandoll

May 10 2012, 02:23:21 UTC 5 years ago

My high-functioning autistic is named Number One Son, rather than Michael, but I know what you mean by your description. We're *totally* getting a copy of this, and Seanan - thank you.

May 10 2012, 17:53:51 UTC 5 years ago

Very welcome. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

groblek

May 10 2012, 03:54:44 UTC 5 years ago

Thanks for the recommendation. She's already made my "Would buy their shopping list if it were published" list for authors, but this tells me I should get two copies - one for a friend who's raising an autistic son.

May 10 2012, 17:53:58 UTC 5 years ago

Excellent.

la_marquise_de_

May 10 2012, 10:37:09 UTC 5 years ago

It is indeed awesome, and Michael is a fine, fine character.

May 10 2012, 17:54:05 UTC 5 years ago

Absolutely.

May 10 2012, 17:54:13 UTC 5 years ago

tinachristopher

May 10 2012, 13:41:30 UTC 5 years ago

Michelle is an awesome, awesome writer. She also shared her experiences with growing up with an autistic son on LJ. I hadn't heard about Silence, I'll definitely buy it. I believe probably most of what Michael experiences Michelle experienced as well.

Thanks for the great recommendation.

May 10 2012, 17:54:31 UTC 5 years ago

Sure!

hoppytoad79

May 10 2012, 21:03:50 UTC 5 years ago

I definitely need to get my hands on this book. It sounds awesome.

May 11 2012, 14:39:09 UTC 5 years ago

It really is.

ironed_orchid

May 11 2012, 05:31:11 UTC 5 years ago

That sounds exactly like what i want from supernatural YA.

May 11 2012, 14:39:23 UTC 5 years ago

I was surprised and delighted, and that's all I can ask.

kyra_neko_rei

May 14 2012, 00:26:39 UTC 5 years ago

Hmmm, interesting.

I adore her Chronicles of Elantra but haven't touched anything else yet (being uncertain as to what's too dark for me to handle well); I'll see about this one.

I go to the bookstore as of late and the "teen dark romance" section is bigger than the general teen section and I have trouble telling the good stories from the "hey, profitable bandwagon!" Twilight clones, although to be fair I should know that anything by Michelle Sagara at the very least isn't follow-the-fad tripe. Anybody else got recommendations for good things from that genre?

May 18 2012, 15:19:53 UTC 5 years ago

It sort of depends on what you're looking for.

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