Maya is starting her senior year in a new school away from her lifelong friends. When her mother's company transferred her to Colorado, it meant Maya would have to leave Pratt, a high school for the deaf. Now Maya would be attend Engelmann, what she calls a hearing school.
Having lost her hearing after an illness when she was thirteen, Maya managed to learn signing and she was now comfortable with her new world. With the help of Kathleen an interpreter provided by her new school, Maya just wanted to get this year over with and head to college.
On her first day she is assigned Nina as a guide to her classes and the rest of what makes up Engelmann. Nina seems nice enough, but she doesn't sign and like most of the people Maya meets, doesn't understand she needs to look at Maya directly if there's any hope of lipreading. In her first class, Maya also meets Beau. It is soon clear that he is an excellent student and involved in student council and most of the other extracurricular activities. He has a great smile and cute dimples, but Maya knows better than to fall for a hearing boy.
Much to Maya's surprise, Beau begins signing, and as the weeks go by, he's getting pretty good. More relaxed with both Beau and Nina, Maya begins to adjust and become part of the Engelmann community. Her new friends begin to reveal more about their personal lives and Maya lets down her guard as well.
THE SILENCE BETWEEN US by Alison Gervais is a interesting read as two worlds, the hearing and the deaf, are woven together. Gervais relies on her own experience as a deaf individual which lends believability to Maya and her relationships with the other characters in her life. Overall, I highly recommend as an addition to any collection representing diversity and inclusion.
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