Riverton teacher publishes debut novel under pen name CJ Gryffin

RIVERTON — Jordan School District posted an episode of its Supercast podcast this month recorded at South Hills Middle School with Kristan Thompson, a functional academics teacher there who writes novels under the pen name CJ Gryffin 1. The episode concerns her book, The Color of Silence, which the district says pays tribute to the non-verbal and "uniquely abled" students she has taught over the years 1. South Hills Middle is at 13508 S. 4000 West in Riverton and serves students in grades seven through nine 2.

KUTV reported in July that the novel is set in 1930s Atlanta and follows Darius, a nonverbal boy who discovers a dream world and bonds with a dragon named Azure that the report describes as never trying to fix him 3. Gryffin writes under a pen name to protect the privacy of the students and families who inspired the story, KUTV reported, and describes the book as a love letter to those children and their families and as a portrayal of an autistic child in a time before autism had a name 3.

The book began with a dream nearly 18 years ago and took shape over almost two decades, according to the KUTV segment 3. Her website lists the novel as released, gives June 20 as the date the book went out, and offers a companion soundtrack 4. KUTV reported that it was available at cjgryffin.com and on Amazon, with an audiobook edition due in mid-August 3.

The district's page says the episode covers how her students inspired her to write and what it takes to become a published author, and links an audio transcription 1. Her website describes her as a special education teacher "who works every day with nonverbal and neurodivergent students" 4.

The record does not name a publisher. Neither the district's page nor KUTV names one, and neither gives sales figures 13. The author's site does not state a publisher on its front page 4.

No student is named in the district's or KUTV's accounts beyond the general reference to students she has taught, and this paper is not identifying any of them 13.