Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Hanna isn't like most children.  Seven years old, she doesn't speak.  She doesn't take direction from her parents, especially her mother Suzette.  She basically rules the house, everything dictated by what she'll accept and what will cause her to go into a tantrum.  School is out as she has been asked to leave several of them already.

Suzette is a stay at home parent but she doesn't want to be.  She was a valued member of their architectural firm before she had Hanna but there is no one else who can take care of Hanna.  Hanna reserves the majority of her spite and tricks for Suzette who at times loses control and yells at her.  Suzette has health issues of her own and is determined to find some help.  This creates an all out war as Hanna is determined to have her way and to ultimately have her father, Alex, all to herself.

As Suzette continues to search for help, consulting psychologists and specialized schools, Hanna ups her game.  She now speaks occasionally to Suzette when Alex isn't around, cursing and declaiming that she is the last witch burned in France.  She even speaks in French sometimes, thus validating the teams of doctors that have insisted there is no physical reason for her not to speak.  Worse, she starts to plan and carry out attacks on Suzette, injuring her at times.  Can these parents find a way to help Hanna?

This book is every parents' nightmare.  The thought of a child determined to do anything to remove the parent from existence is so far from normality that it is a horror to contemplate.  It brings up the issues of nature versus nurture and asks the reader to determine which is at play with Hanna.  This is a debut novel and the author has an interesting future in front of her as she explores her thoughts in other books.  This book is recommended for suspense readers.