The Whispers

The Whispers is an absolutely gorgeous middle grade novel about Riley, an eleven year old boy whose mother has gone missing Riley believes that the key to finding her lies with The Whispers, wish granting fairies from the stories she used to tell him Riley s also struggling with his dad seeming like he doesn t want him around any, bullies at school, and having a crush on an older boy Greg Howard s writing here is so beautiful All of the emotions and imagery jumped off the page I appreci [...]

CW bullying, anti gay terminology homophobia, child abuse, animal death, talk about segregation behaviorRiley has a strong belief in the Whispers fairies that will grant you your heart s desire if you offer a tribute He needs to believe in them because his mama has been missing for months now and if he doesn t believewhat then Greg Howard s middle grade debut novel was a well written, heart breaking example of how sometimes the belief we hold on to is all we have in the face of something f CW bu [...]

The Whispers is a sweet and tender story that takes place in small town South Carolina While the plot is rich and layered, you ll find yourself getting lost in the everyday ness of life in the country with gems like Riley s grandma s 5 4 3 2 1 fruit salad, country neighbors , and the Pentecostal Corn Choir You are guaranteed to be transported to another world with this very special, very extraordinary story about a boy who s navigating a difficult path Highly recommended for middle grade nov The [...]

Such a sweet story about growing up, finding yourself, and forgiveness Fair warning, get the tissues ready I was not prepared for the emotions.Thank you to the publisher for providing this book through Netgalley and putting me on the blog tour Read my full review at bookishbugblog

This story is not just a wonderful, sweet, moody mystery, it s also one of the rarest examples I ve ever read of taking the point of view of a gay person at the moment they re starting to understand who they are At 11 years old, Riley is dealing with not just the sudden disappearance of his mother, but also the guilt that his condition may be responsible It s full of wonderful, charming voice and remarkable insights into grief and early gay confusion This book is priceless

Howard, Greg The Whispers G.P Putnam s Sons BYR, 2019.Riley believes in the old tales of the Whispers, forest creatures who can grant wishes if you bring them tribute He also thinks they know what happened to his mama and how he can take care of what he refers to as his other problem, aka his crush on an older boy But he s having difficulty convincing anyone else that the Whispers are real.This is a whimsical story of a boy who still believes in miracles and fairy creatures, but who is al Howard [...]

It took me a little bit to get into the book, mostly because the setting was very rural American, something I m not particularly knowledgeable about, and haven t read a lot of Once I adjusted to the setting and language of the book though, I was utterly drawn in.Initially I was a bit undecided on how I felt about the author clearly putting vocabulary in with explanations to encourage children to learn on one hand it was clevely woven into the story, but on the other hand I was worried it would I [...]