Written by contributor Khadijah Alam
Rosalind Banks from Tamsin Winter’s Being Miss Nobody is your average school girl, average grades and all… except that she has selective mutism. It’s an uncommon thing to read about, but it gives a different perspective on life while living with a constant condition.
She suffers through primary school and then is bullied throughout high school, all for a condition she cannot control. A popular name she gets called is The Mute-ant, which is just as demeaning as physical torture. Things get worse when her little brother, Seb, gets cancer, and her selective mutism gets worse due to the situation she is in. Even her therapy sessions don’t go too well, which increases her shyness and incapability to talk. So she decides to strike back with the bullies alongside Seb, even if it is the last thing they will ever do together.
Rosalind does make some questionable decisions, such as letting her need to strike back get out of hand. The articles on her blog go slightly too far, and it may seem like she will never come back from this, and may become a bully herself. In some people’s opinions, she is a hero – so she lets it go to her head. It is a hard journey to pull back from, but she does, especially after an abrupt wake up call regarding one of her teachers and a peer. It’s the rude awakening, but one she so desperately needs if she doesn’t want to become what she most hates.
She manages to find her way through the start of her high school experience, making a friend, and helping her brother stay happy even through the hard times. It seems like she doesn’t let it get her down, since she has something else to focus on. The unfairness of the situation may have been the thing to make her go a bit too far, because she doesn’t have anything else to vent on so she lashes out a bit.
The thing to take out of all this is that she’s a normal character, with all the flaws that a normal person can have. Her character reminds us that we are not infallible, especially because of the articles and such. Anyone who wanted to speak out would have probably gone too far as well, which is why she is one of the most relatable literary characters that has been written, and it doesn’t drag on for ages. It’s a concise story with a character who picks herself up even after things go wrong. It also reminds you that people think they’re untouchable behind a screen until something serious happens and it brings them back down to earth.
The book is an excellent representation of people who have selective mutism, and because Rosalind is telling it from her perspective, you get to know what the crippling loneliness feels like, the closing up of her throat every time she tries to speak. It is what makes her such a good character to enjoy reading about: she perseveres through it all while slipping up along the way. It’s well worth a read.
Have you read Being Miss Nobody? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
…I am Miss Nobody.
Rosalind hates her new secondary school. She’s the weird girl who doesn’t talk. The Mute-ant. And it’s easy to pick on someone who can’t fight back. So Rosalind starts a blog – Miss Nobody; a place to speak up, a place where she has a voice. But there’s a problem…
Is Miss Nobody becoming a bully herself?
