Invisible Me

Invisible Me

A Novel
Tzipi Caton

Invisible Me

Dini Braverman doesn’t speak.
Not because she doesn’t know how, not because she doesn’t want to. Because she can’t.

Dini is a selective mute.

Faced with teachers who don't know what to make of her and siblings who call her "socially suicidal," Dini is armed with only a pad of paper and a pile of pens to communicate with the people in her life. She must navigate her way through a new school, a rocky relationship with her mother, and classmates who act as if she doesn't exist.

Things go downhill fast. Dini is unjustly accused of a prank she didn’t perform, suspended from a school she just entered, and misunderstood by those who love her most.

Can Dini reach past her silence to connect with the people in her life?

Tzipi Caton, the talented writer who became a worldwide sensation with her bestselling Miracle Ride, has now entered the realm of fiction with this powerful story. Extraordinarily engaging and compelling, Invisible Me is about pain and healing, and one girl’s struggle to find her place in a confusing world.

ISBN: 978-1-56871-533-9

Author: Tzipi Caton

Cover: Hardcover

Pages: 271

Full Price: $22.99

Online Price: $20.69

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Book Excerpt from Invisible Me

Invisible Me - Tzipi Caton

Invisible Me
By Tzipi Caton

Tzipi Caton, bestselling author of Miracle Ride, presents Invisible Me, a powerful Jewish novel of pain & healing, and a selective mute's struggle to find her place in a confusing world.

Buy Invisible Me by Tzipi Caton at an online discount at www.targum.com

11:41 a.m.

You’re not giving me the chance.

I do study! You just don’t look at my answers.

I can’t.

It’s not a joke! I really, really can’t.

Please can I go back to class now?

Rebbetzin Schiff gives me a long, hard look. The ice in her gaze brings me back to that first day of seventh grade. It was the first time I was back in school after I stopped speaking.

My teacher asked all the girls their names and when she came to me, I panicked. I wanted to speak up, but the words Dini Braverman were stuck in my throat. I couldn’t even say my own name.

The other girls began whispering as I stared straight ahead, hoping that maybe if I would ignore my teacher she would just go away. The tears welled up in my eyes, and fighting them made it even harder to talk.

She asked for my name three times before Blimi, my best friend in the whole world, came to my rescue.

The teacher graced her with the same cold stare and then finally moved on to the next girl. From that day on, she regarded me in much the same way that my new teacher does now.

Rebbetzin Schiff opens the door to my classroom and tells the dikduk teacher that I’m excused for coming late.

The dikduk teacher looks at me the same way Rebbetzin Schiff does. No big shock.

If I were a flower, I would wilt and shrivel right there.

But I am just Dini. I slide quietly into my seat and resume taking notes.

12:22 p.m.

“What is it with her? I don’t get it!”

“I know! Why doesn’t she say anything?” another voice asks.

“Maybe she’s deaf?” a third girl pipes up.

Yet another girl joins the conversation, “No, she can hear. I think she’s mute.”

“If she can hear maybe she can hear what we’re saying.”

“Nah,” the second voice is back. “She’s not even looking in our direction.”

But the voices suddenly become hushed and I can no longer hear what they think about me.

3:24 p.m.

“Excellent work,” Mrs. Schapiro enthuses as she hands back my essay. “You did a great job presenting your side in this argument!” I blush with pleasure.

“Would you like to read it out loud to the class?”

I smile and shake my head from side to side.

Mrs. Schapiro doesn’t press me.

But I hear the other girls laughing quietly. If they only knew how well I defended the right to capital punishment in that essay. Ha ha. If I were in control I would be like the Queen of Hearts. It would be “Off with their heads!” while I consume bars and bars of chocolate nougat. I almost give an evil laugh, but for some reason, the quiet snickering around me sounds more evil than even the uproarious laughter in my head.

5:06 p.m.

Yes, please. But can I have a medium size?

Even Milk Munches aren’t enough to deal with a long day.

I need extra sugar and caffeine and whatever endorphins chocolate has. Plus, it's cold out and I have a long way home.

Flatbush.

Yeah, like an hour and that’s only if I can catch the first train and the bus.

Thanks!

On the train ride home, I savor the warmth of the cup I hold in my hands as I contemplate my pathetic life. I’m starting my third week here, and I still haven’t found that this school is any different from the last two or three or six I’ve been in. As has recently become the case, hot chocolate is the highlight of my day.

11:58 p.m.

I close the door to my room and take out my siddur. I read the Shema by the light of my bedside lamp and squint as I point to each word. I try to keep the meanings in mind as I turn the worn and tearstained pages.

As I kiss the cracked leather cover and switch off the light, I lie back on my pillow and, in my head, tell Hashem all about my day. I ask Him why people say mean things and I tell Him how much it hurts me. I beg Him to make my mother understand and to let my teachers leave me alone. I wonder to Him about my voice and where it went and if it will ever come back. I know He knows how badly I want to speak again, but I trust He will make the words come when I am ready.

And then I tell Him how grateful I am for the coffee shop next to my new school that makes the best hot chocolate, and I thank Hashem for always listening to me talk, even just in my head, and for never laughing at me, no matter how silly He may sometimes think I am.

Buy Invisible Me by Tzipi Caton at an online discount at www.targum.com.

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Invisible Me

Invisible Me

Book Excerpt from Invisible Me

Invisible Me By Tzipi Caton

Invisible Me
By Tzipi Caton