This article presents a comparative analysis of Finland-SwedishTove Jansson’s short story “Det osynliga barnet” (“The Invisible Child,”1962) and Norwegian Gro Dahle and Svein Nyhus’ picturebookSnill(Kind, 2002), both of which portray metaphorical depictions of girlswho deviate from social norms. The article shows how the protagonists,Ninny and Lussi, fall into silence as a response to emotional trauma andmarginalization, before eventually reclaiming their voices. Drawing oncritical disability studies, this study examines how the girls’ silences andreappearances function narratively and aesthetically. The analysis focuseson how their incapacities are depicted and how these depictions intersectwith notions of power, gender, and normality. By investigating the waysin which silence operates as both a narrative problem and a metaphor fortrauma and invisibility, the article explores how the stories structure andresolve this problem through the girls’ eventual “recovery.” The studyargues that while their regaining of voice may seem emancipatory, it canalso be read as a form of adaptation to updated yet still coercive normsof girlhood. The comparative approach also enables a reflection on howdiscourses surrounding discipline, conformity, and resistance have shiftedover time. Ultimately, the article highlights the interplay between silence,speech, and normality, and the extent to which these stories both reproduceand challenge dominant tropes.