A Time to Keep Silent Book

Thirteen-year old Clair Lothrop s world is falling apart. Her mother has died. Her father spends his evenings shut into his study. In a desperate attempt to get her father s attention, Clair stops talking.

Clair s vow of silence gets her father s attention, but not in the way she had hoped. Her father, who is the pastor of a large metropolitan church, resigns to begin a mission in the remote woods of northern Michigan, taking Clair with him. Clair is furious at having to leave her friends. The woods are frightening. Her new house is a tumble-down shack where raccoons and mice have made their home.

But everything changes when Clair meets Dorrie, a girl her age who is hiding out in the woods from her hateful grandmother and her violent father. With her goat, Guinevere, and her knowledge of nature, Dorrie is a survivor. Through this surprising new friendship, Clair finds strength and courage she didn t know she had

Provident Book Finder

Whelan writes convincingly in the first person. Her experience with young people and with northern Michigan make this book sing with feeling.