Sometimes the most powerful words are the ones you’re still searching for.
Charles Marlow teaches his high school students that language will expand their worlds. But linguistic skill cannot help him connect with his autistic son, his ex-wife, or his college-bound daughter. He’s at the end of a road he’s traveled for years when a series of unexpected events force him to reflect on the lifetime of decisions and indecisions that have brought him to this point. With the help of an ambitious art student, an Italian-speaking nun, and the memory of a boy in a white suit whose friendship both saved and condemned him, Charles may finally be able to rewrite the script of his life.
From the best-selling author of Broken for You and Sing Them Home, Language Arts is an affecting tale of love, loss, and language — its powers and its perils.
Praise for Language Arts
Washington State Book Award Finalist
#2 on Paste Magazine's "30 Best Fiction Books of 2015"
A July 2015 Indie Next Pick
Adapted as a feature film by Kairos Productions (Gravitas Ventures)
“A deeply absorbing, magnificently wrought look inside the stories a man tells himself about life, Language Arts overflows with insight and mesmerizing twists. Even with the remarkably high standard set by Kallos’ two previous novels, she shows no sign of faltering. Improbably enough, she keeps getting better…The novels of Stephanie Kallos are filled with the sort of empathy that elevates not just the books but their readers. They convey the overarching sense that repairing the world is a real possibility, however remote—more than one absorbing read away, to be sure, but certainly closer at the last line than the first.” ––Stephen Nathans-Kelly (Paste Magazine)
“[A] beautifully written, harrowing novel…[Kallos’s] vivid descriptions create a cast of memorable characters. She also delivers a huge shocker of a plot twist, one that may send you back to the beginning of the book as you wonder how this development could be possible.”––The Seattle Times
"A riveting read...Kallos moves back and forth in time, and among characters, in a story that deftly mixes family drama, neuroscience, mystery and an exploration of the dying art of handwriting that is far more intriguing than it sounds...You're likely to find yourself rereading it at least once to fully absorb what you may have missed the first time around."— Bookpage
“A deeply moving story of ex-spouses and their young-adult autistic son, and how their pasts and presents inform their independent and cooperative futures. It maintains the top-notch standard set by Kallos’ earlier books, Broken for You and Sing Them Home.”—Cynthia Baskin, EarlyWord.com
"For me, it would be plenty if a novel was deeply felt, utterly absorbing and full of wit. But in Language Arts, Stephanie Kallos goes further, throwing in a doozy of a twist that had me going back to page one to understand how she pulled off such dazzling sleight of hand. An all-around delight.” ––Maria Semple, bestselling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
"Language Arts was like yoga for my heart—my sentiments were stretched and strengthened, my imagination challenged and contorted, and when I finished, I felt grateful for this beautifully honest, lyrical journey. I loved this book.”––Jamie Ford, bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet