One sign that a book is a good one is when it evokes an emotional reaction from you. I had an upset moment early in this one where I just wanted to shake Cally's dad for being so clueless and oblivious, and I knew then that the story had me hooked. It's hard to blame him for being distracted: his wife died less than a year ago, he's under huge pressure at work to save friends from layoffs, and he's having to sell the family house since his own pay has been cut. Yet everything he's doing at home with his two kids is so absolutely wrong that I couldn't help but blame him anyway. Cally doesn't have the option to shake him nor the ability, despite her very definite awareness, to articulate how he is messing up, so she decides to not articulate it--in a contrarian moment at school, the normally boisterous, trouble-prone fifth grader volunteers for a day-long "sponsored silence" fundraiser, then decides she doesn't have any reason to stop being silent; if her dad won't bother to listen to anything she says, then she won't bother saying anything. It's the most she's done to express her continued grief about losing first her mother and now her house. Cally's silence causes her dad plenty of grief, of course, and starts causing issues at school. But it also opens doors to unexpected friendships and events that are almost magical in their small but healing coincidences. Since I've already spoiled so many of the broad plot points with Cally and her father, I won't mention her mom's ghost, the homeless man with his mysterious, giant dog, the blind-deaf boy she meets, or any of the book's other elements. You'll just have to read it for yourself to find out. I will share this bit of description I loved that indicates Cally's mental and emotional perspective as they go to look at the apartment they'll be moving into when her dad sells their house: "It's got great views over the common and good-sized bedrooms; it's a fine example of Victorian history." "We've done Victorian history at school, and I learned what it was like for children living back then when we rehearsed for Olivia!: misery, disease, and empty bellies."