I Talk Like a River Will Touch Your Heart

Esther Hernandez, an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, said this was one of her favorite books, so I had to read it. I can understand why she finds it so moving because I did as well. You don’t have to stutter like the main character because all of us have felt at one time or another that we were lacking in some way and did not fit in. The book is autobiographical, written by Jordan Scott, and illustrated by Sydney Smith. Jordan does a tremendous job communicating the main character’s feelings of frustration and isolation. One of my favorite passages is “They don’t see a pine tree sticking out from my lips instead of my tongue. They don’t hear a crow Caw! Caw! from inside my throat.”

What makes the book so beautiful is the boy’s father shows his son, he does talk, but he talks like the river. His father gives his son the confidence to talk to his classmates about his favorite place, the river.

Esther, I can see why you love this book. It is so simple and real, yet it conquers mountains for all of us. It makes me want to sit on a riverbank. Scott has written a beautiful story in I Talk Like a River.