The provided text contains excerpts from the novel The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf, focusing on the harrowing search for two missing young girls, Calli and Petra. The narrative introduces key characters, including Calli's mother Antonia, her brother Ben, Petra's parents Martin and Fielda Gregory, and the local law enforcement, Deputy Sheriff Louis. Throughout the book, Calli is selectively mute, but the crisis causes her to speak for the first time in years, revealing that the girls were harmed and that her abusive, alcoholic father, Griff, is the likely assailant, leading to intense conflict and a massive search effort in the Willow Creek Woods. The excerpts include reviews praising the book's exploration of family dynamics and secrets, as well as a subsequent epilogue detailing the long-term emotional and physical toll the traumatic event took on the characters.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.