SPEECHLESS
Reader Guide
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Chelsea Knot starts this story as a gossip whose words wind up hurting others both mentally and physically. What do you think about her vow of silence? Was that an effective way to deal with what happened? How hard might it be to not speak at all for four weeks?
2. At first, Chelsea calls Kristen her best friend. Do you think Chelsea acted as a best friend toward Kristen? Did Kristen act as a best friend toward Chelsea, until events came between them? What makes someone a friend? What makes someone a best friend?
3. Asha is kind to Chelsea from the moment they meet. Why do you think she showed friendship rather than anger toward Chelsea? What might have made Asha give Chelsea a chance when people Chelsea thought of as friends ostracized her?
4. There are many instances of bullying and harassment in Speechless. What kinds of intolerance have you witnessed or experienced? What are some steps we can all take to stop this kind of behavior? What effect do you think the Gay/Straight Alliance club will have in Chelsea’s school?
5. When Chelsea takes her vow of silence, her father is supportive. Her mother is not. Why do you think her parents react as they do? In what ways might you support or not support someone in your life who takes such a vow?
6. When Chelsea begins speaking again, she worries that Sam will find her boring and shallow. Do you think Sam and Chelsea have a chance as a couple? How important are common interests, and how much of that is just “stuff,” as Sam says?
7. When Chelsea visits Noah in the hospital, Noah forgives her. Do you think Chelsea deserves forgiveness? Why or why not? Who, if anyone, is to blame for what happened to Noah? Why?
8. Stay silent for one minute. For five. Listen. How difficult is it to not say a word? What do you hear that you might not otherwise have noticed? When might it be more powerful to stay silent than to speak up?
Q & A with Hannah Harrington
Q: Chelsea gets the idea to take a vow of silence from a National Geographic article. Where did you get the inspiration for Chelsea’s story?
A: I remember in high school how once a year some students would take part in the National Day of Silence, which is a one-day vow of silence designed to raise awareness of anti-LGBTQ bullying and harassment in schools. I always thought it was a great exercise, and it had me thinking what it would be like for someone who is very verbal to voluntarily give up their speech for an extended period of time—how they might cope and what could lead someone like that to that decision in the first place.
Q: What advice do you have for those targeted by harassment?
A: Talk to someone—a parent, a teacher, any trusted adult. If for some reason you can’t, or you have and it hasn’t helped the situation, there are other resources available to you that can provide support, either online or by phone. Know that there are people who care, who will listen, and who can help. Everyone has the right to a safe environment, whether at school or home.
Q: Chelsea and Kristen have what one might call an unhealthy friendship. Part of Chelsea’s transformation is realizing that and coming to value the new friends in her life. How did you approach these relationships and show that Chelsea was worthy of redemption in her new friends’ eyes?
A: The most important step for me when it came to Chelsea’s redemption was to show her doing something selfless. When we meet her, she’s dealing with the immediate fallout of her actions as it directly affects her and she’s somewhat self-involved, but at the same time you know there must be something more to her if she is willing to risk her social status to do the right thing—even if she isn’t fully aware of the consequences. I think the first sign of her selflessness is the way she sticks up for Asha in front of Kristen, before they’re very close friends. One of the most effective ways to make a character sympathetic is to have her do something for someone else that doesn’t benefit herself in any way. It’s through Chelsea’s friendships with Asha, Sam and Andy that she gains perspective. The more they get to know her, the more they each are able to see the good in her and how, at heart, she’s not a malicious person but rather someone who made a thoughtless, terrible mistake. These are the people you’d expect wouldn’t be able to stand being around her. By showing glimpses of the guilt she’s dealing with and that she cares about what happened beyond how it affected her personally—that allows her to transition into getting their acceptance and support. The final step—the one that allows her to literally find her voice again—is when she intervenes when a former friend harasses a stranger. She takes an active role in stopping a cycle she once, if only tacitly, perpetuated—an act that shows the reader how much she’s changed throughout the story.
Q: The name Chelsea Knot is a bit different. How did you come up with it, and do you have a method for choosing your characters’ names?
A: I don’t have a particular method, but I try to pick names I like or that have a personal meaning, and that sound memorable. I’ve always loved the name Chelsea, and it’s not one I’ve seen used a lot in fiction. I also once met someone with the last name Knot, which I thought was unique. I just liked the way the two names together rolled off the tongue.
Q: Chelsea’s mother is upset by her silence, and her father is more supportive. How do you create your adult characters and come up with their motivations?
A: I wanted Chelsea’s parents to have differing ways of handling her decision just because it was more interesting than having them on the same page. Plus, having at least one of them be supportive would make it easier for her to continue the “experiment.” Her father is a little clueless and indulgent, but also easygoing and very loving, and there’s more closeness between him and Chelsea than there is between her and her mother. However, I think her mother’s upset stems from her having a better understanding of what is going on with Chelsea and where it’s all coming from. They both care about their daughter’s well-being, but they’re also distracted by other concerns—their financial situation, the legalities of what happened—which is part of why Chelsea is able to get away with her vow for so long.
Q: Once Chelsea reveals what she saw to her parents and then to authorities, she’s kept mostly out of the court proceedings against Warren and Joey. Why did you choose not to have her confront them face-to-face? What might have happened if she had?
A: I wanted the focus to be on the victims and their feelings over what happened, since they deserved to be prioritized. We’d like to think something of that magnitude would be a wake-up call for everyone involved, but I don’t think in real life that’s always the case—while it was for Chelsea, for example, it wasn’t quite for Kristen. I didn’t include Chelsea’s confronting them because I didn’t feel it was necessary for her growth; she wasn’t the one who needed to seek justice from them, after all. And I don’t think they would’ve had a change of heart from any kind of confrontation with her. It was more important to me to show her connections with the people who’d been emotionally (and physically) harmed from what happened and to have that be the source of her catharsis and redemption.
Q: What do you hope readers will take away from Speechless?
A: Words matter—how we use them and how we don’t. Sometimes it is really difficult and even scary to speak up for what you believe is right, but it’s important to do. At the end of the day you answer to yourself, no one else, so you’ll be happy that you did.
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ISBN: 9781459237902
Copyright © 2012 by Hannah Harrington
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Hannah Harrington, Speechless
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