The Silent One is Jonasi, sent from the sea as a baby to grow up in an isolated Pacific village. Separated from the villagers by his silence and their prejudices, Jonasi finds solace in his underwater world where he develops a special relationship with a huge white turtle. However, the superstitious villagers see both Jonasi and the turtle as evil spirits. A series of natural disasters and a struggle for leadership within the village sweep Jonasi toward his strange destiny.
NZ Govt Award Winner, Children's Book of the Year 1982.
Author Biography
Joy Cowley is a multi-award winning New Zealand author of over 600 titles. She is famous in the United States as the author of the phenomenally successful Mrs Wishy-Washy series, which has sold over 40 million copies. Two of her novels, The Silent One and Bow Down Shadrach have won Children's Book of the Year awards in New Zealand; Ticket to the Sky Dance and Starbright and the Dream Eater have won junior fiction awards two years running. Joy was awarded an OBE in 1992 for her services to children's writing and in 2004 she was given the AW Reed Award for her contribution to New Zealand literature. Joy Cowley and her husband Terry have homes in the Marlborough Sounds and in Wellington.
