Jessi's learning a secret language for a very special child.

"Hey, Jessi, the Barretts are here, too," Mallory whispered, as Haley, Matt, and I stepped inside. "They're friends from down the street. Buddy is eight and Suzi is five." She turned to Haley and Matt, said hello, and waved at the same time. She knew that much about signing from me. I loved her for remembering to do it. That's one of the reasons she's my new best friend.

"Well," said Mallory, "everyone's playing in the backyard."

We walked through the Pikes' house, waving to Mrs. Pike on the way, and stepped into the yard. It looked like a school playground.

The Pikes and the Barretts all stopped what they were doing and ran to us.

The introductions began.

The signings began.

The explaining began.

The staring began.

And Haley began to look angry again.

I glanced at Mallory. "Ick-en-spick," she whispered . And with that, I wonderful idea came to me. Mallory and I love to read, and not long ago we'd both read a really terrific book (even if it was a little old fashioned) called The Secret Language, by Ursula Nordstrom. These two friends make up a secret language, and "ick-en-spick" is a word they use when something is silly or unnecessary.

"You know," I said to the kids, "maybe Matt can't hear or talk, but he knows a secret language. He can talk with his hands. He can say anything he wants and never make a sound."

"Really?" asked Margo (who's seven) in a hushed voice.

Mallory smiled at me knowingly. "Think how useful that would be," she said to her brothers and sisters, "if, like, Mom and Dad punished you and said, 'No talking for half an hour.' You could talk and they'd never know it."

"Yeah," said Nicky slowly. "Awesome."

"How do you do it?" asked Vanessa. "What's the secret language?"

Jessi's Secret Language
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590442341