Item from a-silent-voice by
The small notebook Shoko carries and offers to others to write in — her primary bridge to a hearing world, and a recurring symbol of the effort she makes to connect.
The communication notebook is Shoko's infrastructure. She holds it out to people who do not know sign language as an invitation — here, write it down, I am still paying attention. It is also her vulnerability: it requires the other person to participate, to make the effort, to not wave off the offer and speak louder instead. In the story, who accepts the notebook and who refuses tells you almost everything you need to know about them. Shoya, when he tracks Shoko down again, does not reach for the notebook — he signs. This is a different kind of gesture.
A small, spiral-bound notebook, slightly worn at the corners from constant use. The pages are filled with handwriting in multiple hands — her own careful script and the writing of everyone she has communicated with. She carries it at all times, with a pen clipped to it.
Also known as: communication notebook, the notebook, Shoko's notebook, the spiral notebook