All He Knew

Henry has been deaf since early childhood. He is bright and understands far more than people realize, but by the age of six he has decided it is not safe to speak to strangers, and when he starts school he is labeled unteachable. His family has little money and few choices, and in 1939 Henry is sent to Riverview, a bleak state institution where the children are underestimated and treated harshly. Years later, during World War II, a young conscientious objector arrives to work there as an attendant and sees how capable Henry is. Told as a novel in poems and inspired by true events, Helen Frost's book sheds light on a little-known part of American history and won the 2021 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.