Official Review: Silence in Center by Jody Studdard

[rachel_bruhn]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Silence in Center" by Jody Studdard.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Silence in Center is one of the Softball Star novels by Jody Studdard. Although it is the fifth book in the series, it does not make any reference to previous books. I think that each book is a stand-alone read, but part of a series because all of the books are about softball players and, I suspect, stories about characters that make a brief appearance in other stories. For example, in Silence in Center the Skyhawks play against a girl named Kiana Cruise. At the end of the story, Studdard provides a sneak peak to another book called Kiana Cruise: Apocalypse.

Silence in Center is about Melody Gold's quest to become a select league softball player. Normally, Melody would be the type of girl that teams fight over, not just because she is a decent batter and infielder, but because of her amazing skills as an outfielder. However, Melody also has a hearing impairment that requires her to wear hearing aids all the time. Due to this misfortune, Melody has been cut from three select teams, so far, after tryouts. Things start to look up for Melody as she gets a real shot at a select team. The rest of the story carries you through Melody's journey and includes some fun side entertainment with a boy named Steven.

This book would be appropriate for girls in middle school, around ages 10-14. Melody's character is fourteen and most of the other characters are fifteen or sixteen. There is no inappropriate content that would make be believe it would not be appropriate for middle school girls, since most young readers enjoy reading books about characters that are a couple years older than them. It teaches girls about overcoming bullies and standing up for your friends if someone is picking on them. Melody has faced a lot of bullying in her time due to her hearing impairment, but she has learned how to overcome that and brush off people's inconsiderate comments. It also helps that Melody finds friends that don't care about her impairment and allow her to feel normal.

On a technical level, Studdard has an interesting writing style. While I only found one grammatical error, there were multiple mechanical errors. The error I found most frustrating was the number of run-on sentences. Not having read any of Studdard's previous books, I am not sure if this is just his writing style or if it was Melody's character. She seemed to ramble a lot, which resulted in multiple ideas being thrown into one overly long sentence. Similarly, multiple ideas were thrown into the same paragraphs. Also, there are phrases that are used repeatedly throughout the book as well, which seems to a be a result of reading things in first person, as if Melody were telling you the story.

Aside from my opinions about the writing style of the book, I also found the story-line a bit frustrating. It has been a while since I read a children's book similar to this one, but I found the lack of conflict in the story to make for quite a boring read. It seems like most things seem to work out perfectly and everything is wonderful. If there is a hiccup that happens, it is quickly resolved (and by quickly I mean within the same page or the next one). Melody is a very optimistic character, so perhaps it is just her young and carefree attitude coming through. However, I found it to be too predictable and anti-climactic.

Ultimately, I would give Silence in Center by Jody Studdard 3 out of 4 stars. On a technical level, I think it falls short of "perfect," but it is full of details and has a good plot. I would like to see more conflict and/or reduced predictability, but it is a sound story with a great message for young readers.

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Silence in Center
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[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

Amazing review, Rachel_jacks. Your review speaks of nothing but talent and originality. You had me laughing too, so yeah, I look forward to reading more of your reviews.

(and by quickly I mean
within the same page or the next one). - funny stuff!

[rssllue]

Very nice review! It sounds like quite the interesting book.

[chytach18-]

It sounds like a nice and gentle book for teenagers. Great review.

[Heidi M Simone]

@rachel_jacks, great review! Even though this isn't my cup of tea, I can see a few of the middle school students at my school liking this book. Nicely done!

[zeldas_lullaby]

Great review! I hate hearing aids--it feels like having molded marbles with microphones jammed into my bodily orifices. They're irritating, and they make everyone (including my own voice) sound robotic. So I just never wear them.

But I digress. Your review gave me a good sense of this book, including its strenths and weaknesses.

[rachel_bruhn]

@zeldas_lullaby you could just get really good at lip reading like Melody was! I truly enjoyed when her friends learned that she could lip read and made a game out of it.

Thanks, @leon Durham. I hope that others find my writing style enjoyable as well. I try to remain professional, however my personality tends to leak in there at times as well. I wouldn't change that for anything since I am trying to create my "image" as a reviewer. I want people to know that I will always be honest in all of my reviews.

[gali]

Nice review indeed! The personality touch adds to the appeal of a review in my view.

[bluemel4]

Wonderfully well written review! I am very interested in the hearing impaired/ deaf community. I will have to put this book on my to-read list.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Ooh, lip reading is hard. I actually taught phonics for over three years, and I know what the mouth does when it makes each sound. (I.e., your lips pop open for /b/ and /p/. Your mouth closes for /m/ and the air exits your nose...) But I still can't read lips! Alas, if it were only that easy.

Anyways... if you want to have an image as a reviewer, you should upload an avatar so people have an image to associate you with!

[rachel_bruhn]

Anyways... if you want to have an image as a reviewer, you should upload an avatar so people have an image to associate you with!

I know! Every time I think about it I get sidetracked and forget to find something. Although, maybe I should leave it blank to make people think I am mysterious....or maybe they will just think I am lazy! haha

[zeldas_lullaby]

Whoo-hoo!! Great avatar!! I love it!!

[sphillips44]

Amazing review. I love how your honesty came through with this, depicting the story to be predictable and the way you explained Melody's character. Again awesome job, this is a great review!

[rachel_bruhn]

I thought so too @zeldas_lullaby! After some Google searching using some directed keywords, I found an image that I feel depicts my personality pretty well. And come on....who has a guy in real life that is better than guys in books? I'm a hopeless romantic and my guy would never do half of what the guys in books do. Tragic as it is, it's the truth, so I will live through my book friends.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Amen to that! Isn't that the truth?? I'll take a fictional man over a real-life one any day.