Wayne Kovok was a seventh grade fact-absorbing nerd who used his voice and his facts to shield himself from awkward silences. His words allowed him to cruise smoothly through uncomfortable conversations. An unexpected plane crash left him with damaged vocal cords and without a voice. With he absence of his shield-like voice, Wayne thought he had no way of filling in all of the blank spaces in his life. As he slowly regains his ability to talk, he meets new friends, encounters new problems, and discovers new ways to overcome the difficulties that his life had thrown at him.
I thought that this book was very moving. The journey of how Wayne’s almost normal life suddenly morphed into something with such a diverse mix of positive and negative experiences shows how life is never predictable. I liked how Wayne took on problem after problem and kept persisting to solve each one. This book is an example of what reality is like for some people and that we can overcome it in many different ways.
One thing that was memorable about this book was how Wayne had a continuous line of facts through the whole book. I found most of the facts that he mentioned to be very interesting and amusing. I definitely learned a couple of new things that I had not known before.
Reviewed by Gayatri, Grade 6, Tuckahoe Library
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