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"Hush" by Donna Jo Napoli

Author:

Donna Jo Napoli

ISBN:

978-0-689-86176-5

Publisher:

Atheneum Books, 2007

Reviewed by:

Lisa Langsdorf, Children's Librarian, Kenosha Public Library

Gr. 7-9 Hush is based on an old Icelandic saga. The main character Melkorka is an Irish princess who has lived a privileged and sheltered life. She is spoiled and used to having her own way. In her world, she is taught that Vikings are savages. When Melkorka is kidnapped by slavers, she tries desperately to find a way to escape. Her salvation comes through her silence. She never speaks and through her silence causes the slavers to treat her less harshly than the other prisoners. The novel is centered on the slavers and the journey from her home around the coast to gather as many slaves as possible. The journey is harsh and the weather is getting colder. Melkorka is starved, gagged, dirty, and eventually sold to a Viking. He begins his ownership by making her his concubine. She keeps up her silence to everyone, even under the worst circumstances, until she has her baby, then she finally begins to speak in secret to him, in her original language. The power of silence saves Melkorka while on the slave ship, and the power of speech saves her when she has her baby.