After Zero is a breathtaking middle grade read. I am reluctant to label it as middle grade because it is also a wonderful read for any age. I loved that there were so many twists and turns and just when you thought you had it all figured it out, you didn’t! As a middle school teacher, I would recommend this book to other teachers and students. I think it would make a great read aloud and would have many wonderful discussion points and important themes to point out. The character development was strong and Collins used vivid descriptions in a most perfect way. I really don’t have any complaints and would give this book five stars. I cannot wait to book talk this one!

Note: My professional goal for this year is to read 50+ diverse books (race - nonwhite characters/authors, (dis)abilities, sexuality, etc.). I am learning a great deal from the books I have read but this is the first review I have done for this goal. Since I have never reviewed a book on here before, I did not know the format and had to write this quickly. I will add a longer and better worded review to my Goodreads account in the near future - link at bottom. These are some of the questions I will be using with each book as I attempt to review 50+ books!

How is the book diverse?
- One of the characters is dealing with something, but I do not want to spoil!

Opinion & reason for rating
- I am giving this book 4.5 stars. It was a great book with an interesting topic, but at one point I put the book aside for a week before picking it up again. The subject matter is very interesting and I have not encountered a character like Elise before and as a middle school teacher, I read a great amount of middle grade books every year.

How does the book impact me personally?
- I was a shy/quiet child in class until middle school. However, even though I was quiet, I was nowhere near that level. Now I am a huge talker and have a difficult time staying quiet so it gives me a new perspective!

How will the book impact my teaching?
- I have taught many students who are very quiet, and sometimes it is a challenge because we want people to respond and participate. Honestly, this book helped me rethink my teaching with students who are very quiet, and I will go into the next school year with a different mindset. Everyone needs to remember that there are other ways for students to participate besides talking.

I would recommend this book to...
- Other teachers because it is important to know all types of students, and it allows us to be able to put ourselves in their shoes. There is bullying in this book, so I also think it is important for all students to read this - again to understand someone else's perspective.

Elise is a young girl who is being raised by a distant and (thought to be) unloving mother. Her father was killed when she was very young by drunk driver.

Elise had a very sheltered childhood – she was homeschooled by her mother (barely) and has very limited contact with the outside world. She finally made a friend with a girl from the neighbourhood named Mel when she was about 7. Elise was so sheltered that she didn’t even know what a birthday or a birthday party was until she made friends with Mel.

The story starts after she has somehow convinced her mother to enrol her in public school and it follows her as she has been going there for 6-7 months. It shows the struggles that she has fitting in and adapting to her new surroundings and peer group. She decides to speak as little as she can until she can figure out how to exist in this new world – but once she gets a handle on it she finds herself unable to stop tallying her words hoping to get to zero.

This is a very interesting look at social dynamics, peer pressures, bullying/mean girl mentality, and selective mutism. It also has a supernatural element that makes you wonder through out the story.

This book would be suitable for older middle grades – ages 11-14.

This was provided for review from netgalley.

A fascinating book about adolescence, anxiety and mental health. I think students will enjoy Elise's intriguing story as she describes her struggles with fitting in and speaking up.

After Zero is a beautiful story of someone who cannot summon the power of words. She learns that silence is safer in her world as speaking has caused her many problems. Elise must learn to cope with a tragedy she never knew and find a way to share her words with the world around her.

What a great story - I read it in one day, I wanted to find out what happened to Elise and her family! Elise keeps a tally of how many words she speaks per day, she has spoken two or three words a day, she might answer a teacher’s question, and she rarely speaks to her mother. Elsie reads when she sits with some other girls at the lunch table, and she likes to hide out at the library.
One day, Elsie meets two new friends, Conn and Finola Karney, a brother and sister who were homeschooled like her, and she is asked by the guidance counselor to help them adjust to being in a public school.
Elise is new to being in public school this year, she has a hard time being accepted by others, even her old friend Mel has a hard time with Elise’s silence. Elise also says things without thinking about what she is saying and this means she is easily bullied and intimidated by others.
One day Elise finds out about a secret her mother has kept hidden for many years, you will have to read the story for yourself to find out what the secret is and how it changes Elise’s life!

4.5? Wow, this one was so hard for me at the beginning.. the pain of silence is so tangibly heavy and so stifling I was having a visceral reaction to it (which is likely a sign at how well this was done!). I was grasping for her voice and for silence to be broken in the story. As the mystery picked up I found myself diving in and I ended up liking the magical realism? (Maybe not what I should call some of the more fantastical parts?) more than I thought I would. I’m not saying it hit out of the park 5 stars just because I felt the ending was too quick and perhaps too neat. That being said, this own-voices perspective of selective mutism was raw and lovely.. I would definitely pass this one on to students. I will say that it recs for 8 and up, but I would say 9+ because of some of the intense moments and themes. Great read!

This is a very readable story with a main character, Elise, who is strong and very likable. At first readers may wonder that she does not speak because she is afraid of saying the wrong thing and become embarrassed. However, as the story progresses, and readers see how distant her relationship with her mother is, they will wonder if their first assumption was wrong. And it is. Elise’s story is tragic with a little magical element added in. This is a great choice for realistic fiction fans.