Already with the first chapter, you know this book will be the strong but silent type, the one that doesn't get flowery with words, but will never, ever flinch from reality. The silences resonate with questions and secrets, like bells robbed of clappers that still go on resonating. I know that familial silence that starts "for your own good" and ends up suffocating everyone, and Ribay nails it. So many kinds of silence, and yet Jay's voice is strong and clear. I can't wait to see how he'll use it when he learns to speak up.