The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais - ADVISABLE

The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais, 240 pages. Blink, 2019. $17.99

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

After moving halfway across the country, Maya found herself wary about going to a new school for senior year. Maya is not as worried about having to transfer to a new school as she is that the new school is a hearing school—which she hasn’t attended since becoming deaf a few years prior. Fighting discrimination, family issues, and her own self-doubt, Maya has a long year ahead of her.

While I found it difficult and somewhat frustrating to miss out on a lot of the dialogue, this also seemed to be part of the point being made to help readers understand Maya. Gervais also did a brilliant job on incorporating conversation and dialogue into the book with the challenge of having a deaf main character. I enjoyed learning more about the deaf community and being aware of those around me as well as about determination and self-worth from Maya.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen