About the Book
Things I Didn't Say Out Loud is Kamara Bloom's most emotionally precise work for young readers, a book about the feelings children carry without knowing how to name them. The protagonist moves through a series of experiences where strong emotions arrive before words do, the unnamed anxiety before something new, the wordless grief after a disappointment, and gradually learns that giving a feeling a name is the first step toward not being ruled by it. This is an essential SEL text for classrooms and counseling settings.
Themes
Discussion Questions
For the Book Club Table
- 01
What kinds of feelings did the character have that were hard to put into words?
- 02
Why is it sometimes difficult to tell someone how you feel? What makes it easier?
- 03
The character carries some feelings for a long time before saying them out loud. Do you ever do that? Why?
- 04
What happened when the character finally named one of their big feelings? Did naming it help?
- 05
Are there feelings in the book that you have felt before but never had words for?
- 06
What do you do when you feel a feeling but cannot find the right word for it?
- 07
Who is a safe person you can talk to when you have a feeling that is hard to hold by yourself?
- 08
Why do you think Kamara Bloom wrote this book? What did she want children to understand?
Personal Reflection
For the Reader Alone
Draw a picture of a feeling you have that is hard to explain. You do not have to name it, just draw it.
Write or finish this sentence: 'Something I have never said out loud is...', you do not have to share it with anyone.
Think of a feeling you had this week. Write the feeling word, then write what happened in your body when you felt it.
Who is one person you trust to hear your hard feelings? Write their name and one reason you trust them.
Group Activities
For the Circle
The Feelings Vocabulary Wall
Collaboratively build a classroom wall of emotion words, organized from simple to complex. Start with what students already know, then add words from the book and ones the class discovers together. Return to the wall throughout the week and have students point to what they are feeling each morning. Over time, this activity measurably expands emotional vocabulary.
The Feeling Before the Word
Ask students to act out a feeling without using words or naming it while others guess. Then ask: what did your body do when you felt it? Connect each feeling to a physical sensation. This embodiment exercise teaches children that emotions have a physical presence before they have a language, which is the book's central insight.
Safe Feelings Journals
Give each student a small journal designated as their 'Things I Didn't Say Out Loud' book. For one week, they write or draw one thing each day that they felt but did not say. These are never read aloud without consent. At the end of the week, discuss: what was it like to have a private place for feelings? Connect to the protagonist's experience of finally finding words.
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