Maya is deaf and she is happy with herself just as she is. When her family moves she has to go to a hearing school for the first time since becoming deaf – she is forced to deal with situations that are definitely challenging. As she starts to let “hearing” people into her life she finds that the world is a little bit different than she originally thought.

What I LOVED about this story was the character growth – not just with Maya – but with all the characters. There are so many deep and complex relationships throughout this story that really draws you in. Maya is such a strong character, she is opinionated, smart and not afraid of challenges and she is not afraid to admit when she is wrong. Beau is kind and flawed and the fact that he wants to learn sign language to communicate with her is such a beautiful part of this story.

I would suggest this books for ages 14 up. It is clean and definitely hits on some issues that I believe anyone can benefit from reading.

You know those stories where you fall in love with everything after just a few pages?
That, for me, was this book.
The Silence Between Us was, in a nutshell, some of the best disability representation I’ve *ever* read. I am not deaf, but, as someone with hydrocephalus, right-sided cerebral palsy, and partial blindness, I am always looking for good representation, and this book was It. The Silence Between Us celebrates disability instead of shying away from it.
The characters in this book were amazing — I don’t think there was a single character that I didn’t like. Maya was a fantastic MC, Beau was adorable, Nina was an awesome friend (I LOVE that Nina and Maya ended up becoming friends because I was anticipating the dreaded “popular girl hates the new girl” cliché). Even the side characters — Connor, Maya’s mother, Maya’s interpreter, and Melissa — were wonderfully written. They all enhanced the plot so well, and I adored every single one of them.
This book even managed to teach me a little bit about sign language. Not necessarily how to actually sign, but just little tidbits about the language and about deaf culture, and about little things here and there that deaf people might appreciate or be annoyed by. Even though this book doesn’t really use verbal dialogue (other than signing, Maya can only read lips — but she *can* Speak), I think the interaction between characters ran very smoothly and, while I don’t know if this is the common way to express sign language in books, I appreciate the way the author wrote out the sign language in ALL CAPS. That made things really easy to follow, and definitely made up for the lack of verbal dialogue.
Did I mention that Maya and Beau are absolutely adorable? I adore their chemistry, and Beau is an absolute darling. A lot of “love interests” in YA (and in general tbh) come off as totally douchey, so words cannot describe how much I love the fact that Beau is sweet and genuine. He is such a good character, I love him a lot, and it’s so nice to see able-bodied people accepting people with disabilities, disabilities and all.
Overall, I ADORED this book. I’m so glad I was approved on NetGalley to review it, and I think it definitely became one of my favorite YA contemporaries. I highly encourage everyone to check this book out, but especially if you love contemporary romances and/or disability rep!

I’ve been waiting so long for a book like this. Like our protagonist Maya, I was born hearing and have slowly lost bits of my hearing over the years in addition to dealing with Auditory Processing Disorder, both of which require me to wear hearing aids. While Maya is immersed in the Deaf community, I’ve remained a part of the hearing community into which I was born, but I can relate to so many of the experiences Maya has all throughout the novel.

I’ve seen some people say in their reviews that Maya is unlikable and her strong negative stance on CIs being something that was difficult for them to grasp, but it’s curious to note that these are hearing people who are leaving these comments. In my opinion, Maya is an exemplary figure of a late-deafened girl making her way first through the Deaf community and then the hearing world once she and her family move. She’s remarkably realistic, and knowing that the author is hard of hearing and coming from a similar place, it’s somewhat disheartening to see hearing reviewers seemingly miss the point in some places.

Overall, this is a great novel and one I’ve been waiting for for so, so long. Highly recommend. And if you’re hearing, please go into it with extra kindness and openness toward Maya and where she’s coming from!

The plot of this book just seems unrealistic. What parents would uproot a kid with a chronic illness and bring him to a high-altitude location that's almost guaranteed to worsen his health? For that matter, what parents would toss their deaf daughter into the deep end of a hearing school when she's only been in mostly deaf communities so far? Honestly, none of this makes sense and it really detracted from my ability to enjoy this book.

*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I wanted to love this.
I really REALLY wanted to love this.
And it had so much promise. Honestly, the writing is engaging. The storyline is beyond interesting. I completely loved the little glimpse into what it's like to be a deaf person in a hearing world, and the authenticity of how ASL is portrayed. As someone who is hard of hearing, I have just the tiniest of understandings related to how frustrating communication can feel and how alone these issues make you feel sometimes. I was fascinated by the premise of this story - and I think I really would have loved it.

But.

But Maya was completely unlikable to me. She came off almost aggressive and incredibly judgmental in a way that was surprising to me given that she wasn't born deaf. She was a hearing person too at one time, so her inability to understand the awkwardness that the hearing students had while interacting with her grated on me. And her harsh treatment of those who went out of their way to learn her language and communicate with her that way was ultimately what made this a DNF for me.

I get that it's difficult. More difficult even than my own difficulties. I actually was fascinated and so interested to learn more about those difficulties, but I would have liked a little less hostility. A little less condescension. A bit of willingness to meet her new classmates halfway, particularly when they went out of their way to make an effort.

In any case, I wasn't able to connect with her (clearly) and found myself repeatedly frustrated with her as a character and so, ultimately, it was a DNF for me at 25%.

The Silence Between US by Alison Gervais
I loved this book but there could have so much more story to it! I'm hoping the author comes up with more books for this one!!!

What a great little book! I teach a sign language class at my library and I plan on making this available to my students as a great glimpse into the similarities and differences between Deaf and hearing culture. Maya is a strong and capable young Deaf woman who starts attending a hearing high school. Throughout her story, we learn about managing interpretation services, navigating friendships, the debate about cochlear implants, and how great it is to be accepted for who you are. I especially loved the transliteration of ASL order into English, which is a perfect window into how different the grammar is between the two languages. That's honestly why I'm hoping my students will pick this up--it's a better explanation than any I could give in five short weeks!

The Quick Cut: A deaf girl has to adjust when her family moves to Colorado her senior year of high school and ends up in a hearing school. Drama ensues when she struggles to trust hearing people attempt friendships with her.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Blink for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Life is complex enough when you have control of all five senses, but how do you cope without one? Is change impossible or just that much more complex? The story of Maya runs through those feelings as she moves to a new school.

Maya lost her hearing due to meningitis and has been a proud member of the deaf community ever since. She's spent so much time in her deaf school that it has become the comfy, happy safe place she depended on. Unfortunately, life and its changing plans moves her to a new state without a deaf school - forcing her to adjust to a hearing school and her constant companion of an interpreter. However, when a popular boy at school named Beau shows an interest and even learns ASL - she is immediately suspicious. Will she learn to trust others and love ger new environment or buck the trend forever.

Spoiler alert: Maya is very unlikable. While I can attempt to sympathize and understand her perspective, she spends most of her time judgemental as all he'll while refusing to meet others in the middle. She thinks that anyone who doesn't know of the deaf community is ignorant fools and quickly discounts them. This type of approach leaves her looking like the bad guy (appropriately so). She's made it nearly impossible to know her unless you are exactly like her.

That being said, the book is still a fun read. You see the struggles of a deaf person's life and how they attempt to adjust to a world that largely ignores them. It certainly opens your eyes when the required disability devices are unavailable and no alternative is given... Leaving a person stranded. Seeing each complexity and write off made me feel for the struggle of every day life.

Beau is the romantic interest here and truthfully, I spent a large percentage of the book wondering why. He's sweet, sensitive, and smart while Maya is flat out rude and abbrasive to him. He ends up looking like a hero each time he attempts to reach out to Maya and she slaps him down with no questions.

I don't mean to be horrendous about Maya, especially since life can't be easy. The issue is that she's abbrasive and never explains herself or attempts emotional honesty. Start to finish, her walls are up and the mystery of her pessimism stays that way. There's no progress here and that ruins it here because this ends up sounding like an infomercial on deaf struggles.

An interesting tale weighed down by an unlikable and one dimensional heroine.

My rating: 3 out of 5

Dnf 22 percent

I think a lot of people will like this book. But I don't think I'm a contemporary person.


I'm not sure if I can finish this because the main character is pretty hypocritical and mean. First I would get that going to a regular school for the first time in a few years would be hard but im pretty sure she said she wasn't always deaf so she should realize that it would be difficult for hearing people to get used to it seeing as she is a few years deaf.
And beau is trying so hard and she's being a bch to him

This YA story focuses on Maya, a deaf high school senior who just moved to a new school. It follows her struggles navigating a hearing school with the use of an interpreter and forming relationships with students who have little experience with deaf people. It was really interesting how the author wrote what was said in ASL as it would be said, and explained how it is "spoken". I enjoyed learning more about the deaf community and some of the struggles Maya deals with.
The plot was pretty good, I would say pretty typical for a YA high school story. I did feel like the synopsis made a lot more of one of the conflicts than it was in the story itself.
Overall it's a good story that opened my eyes to a different point of view that I was unfamiliar with.
It will be published in August, if you want to add it to your TBR pile!
#TheSilenceBetweenUs #NetGalley

The Silence Between Us is a great story that is told beautifully by Alison Gervais. Maya is a strong character who will touch the hearts of everyone who reads this story. I loved how she didn't think her being deaf was a disability and changed the opinions of everyone around her. This book had some really good messages and everyone should read it.

The deaf people are rarely talked about. Maybe you passed one today and didn't know it. Some are born deaf, others become deaf overtime.Doesn't mean they aren't like us. Maya has just moved to a new school, where everyone ISN'T deaf. Cue the clueless cute guy. Why don't they just leave us alone when we have our ideas? The guy doesn't understand Maya at all, especially when she has the chance to hear. Isn't NOT hearing sometimes better? Less worrying about all the gossip and rumors.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Maya Harris is 17 years old and was rendered deaf when a bout of meningitis left her profoundly deaf at the age of 13. Her mother's job relocation forces Maya to leave her special hearing impaired school and move to Colorado, to a regular high school. Maya's young brother is also afflicted with cystic fibrosis and her mother is a single parent, having to cope with two children with chronic health situations on her own.

This is a very well-written book, dealing with serious subject matters: the rights of the hearing impaired and the difficulties they face in a hearing world. I learned so much from this story and was very glad to have been given the opportunity to read it. For the most part, it was a very engrossing and enjoyable read. However, one weakness was characterization:. Maya often came across to me as an angry and hostile teen - she was so mean to poor Beau - a handsome young student at her new school. She raked him over the coals time and again, and he was nothing but kind to her. I have always believed that if you want others to "tolerate" you and your issues or idiosyncrasies, then you need to tolerate others as well. People make mistakes, especially when dealing with unfamiliar situations. I get that Maya was tired of being discriminated against, yelled at (in a well-meaning way) or coddled because of her disability, but she was in a new school, and I think she could have been a bit more forgiving of other's mistakes. When one of her misguided teachers spoke in an extremely loud voice to her on her first day, she should have gently told him something like: "my hearing aids only pick up large crashing or thudding noises. You can yell all you like but I still won't be able to hear you." (Even I have been misled into believe that a hearing impaired person who is wearing a hearing aid might be able to hear my voice. I thought she was being a bit harsh on her unsuspecting teacher in that instance. But I do get it: that type of thing gets old, fast.)

Maya is understandably upset and nervous in her new environment, and she often felt lonely and ignored, but perhaps her prickly attitude might have been a bit to blame for that? (Just saying!) Poor Beau learned ASL (sign language) in order to communicate with her. At first, she greeted his attempts with disdain and tended to point out all of his mistakes. I have no idea why Beau persevered and eventually won both Maya's friendship and her affections. That was a hard sell for me, but once the romance between Maya and Beau gets off the ground, I started to like Maya a bit more. (Don't get me wrong: I don't mind a fierce or spunky heroine: in fact, I prefer them. What I don't like is someone being unnecessarily mean.) The story did occasionally get bogged down in unnecessary details about homework assignments, etc, but for the most part, this was a very interesting story about a young girl who is forced by circumstance to leave her sheltered hearing-impaired learning environment. She does learn to cope, and even comes to prefer the challenges of her new school..

The author discloses in the end that she too is hearing impaired, so I am relieved to know that I was getting an authentic (although fictionalized) account of one person's personal experiences. Despite the minor characterization and plotting issues, I would still highly recommend this novel.

The Silence Between Us focuses on Maya's transition into a hearing school since her family moves and she is unable to attend a school for people with hearing impairments anymore. While at the hearing school, Maya builds relationships with friends and a boy named Beau, who takes up sign language in order to communicate with her. I have to say, I was really looking forward to reading this book but I had a hard time getting through it. The story itself did not match up with the summary that was given for it. I was reading this as an e-book on my kindle and if it wasn't for the page count on the copy, I'm not sure I would've even known when I hit the middle of the story. There wasn't really a climax, nothing big ever happened, she was worried about college and maybe a relationship with a hearing boy but even then there was little to no conflict. The conflict promised in the summary was only delivered at the very end of the novel and it was wrapped up and resolved far too quickly, it was as if it never happened. Throughout the novel, I kept waiting for something more to happen and it just didn't. I also struggled with the characters because, besides Maya, it felt as if every other character was incredibly underdeveloped.

I personally know very little about ASL and hearing impairments so since the author has experience with, it is incredibly interesting to read how sign language would be read and represented during Maya's conversations with her mother, her interpreter, and her friends. It brought some clarity to what it would be like to have a hearing impairment. I have read other YA's with similar topics but ASL was never introduced in the way this book has and I think it made it feel more authentic. Maya also handles explaining ASL and still being vocal very well, I really liked those moments in the book where she explained things to the people around her since it served as an explanation for the readers as well. The informational aspects of the book worked very well but the overall plot was not executed fully.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange of an homest, unbiased review.

I loved this book! I loved Maya and even though we have different challenges, I found her character to be authentic . The friendships she developed made for a great story: showing that people from different worlds can coexist. I love that the characters have outlets such as art, reading, etc. I feel like that's a good lesson in the story to mirror healthy coping mechanisms.

There are parts that made me sad, too. Definitely having a brother who struggled with his health and witnessing the overwhelming burden life put on their mom was hard to accept, but just one more area where the author wrote an honest portrayal of life. There were many good lessons hidden within an entertaining story.

How does a teenager cope with moving to a new school senior year in high school? Now imagine that same teenager is deaf. Maya has gone totally deaf due to an illness. She has been going to a school for the deaf and is forced to move to Colorado with her mom and brother, Connor, because of his cystic fibrosis. Now Maya must go to Engelmann High School which is a hearing school.

Even though Maya has an interpreter for her classes, the principal decides she needs a mentor. Nina is involved in lots of school activities and becomes a friend to Maya even through her lackluster desire not to be involved in the hearing world. Then she meets Beau. Beau starts to learn sign language, and Maya is not sure what his angle is.

Gervais weaves an honest look at how Maya has to overcome prejudices from her classmates and her community. This is an eye-opening book about the hearing and deaf interact with each other. Maya has to change her way of thinking to become friends with Nina and Beau, and they evolve in the way they treat Maya to help her have a successful senior year.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Maya is a senior in highschool when she moves from New Jersey to Colorado. This is also her first time at a "hearing school", as she lost her hearing after a battle with meningitis. At her new school, she'll need an interpreter, and be the only deaf person there.

When Beau, a cute, popular classmate starts to learn sign language to communicate with her, she is apprehensive, unsure if he is genuine or taking pity in her.

With support from her mother, and younger brother with Cystic Fibrosis, her new friends Beau and Nina, Maya comes out of her shell and navigates the world of the hearing, and being open to new experiences.

This is my first book focused on a deaf main character, and the use of ASL and lip reading. I think this a very important YA novel, and could help people be more inclusive and accepting after reading,

I received a copy of THE SILENCE BETWEEN US on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and author for the opportunity.

FIVE STARS! And here’s why:

This book should be required reading in school. Alison Gervais captivated my interest from the get-go. It has all the elements of a great YA story: family and friends drama, regrets, second chances, and a story shrouded in frustration and forgiveness. My father-in-law is hearing impaired, and each day Is filled with so many battles that the rest of us just take for granted. Alison wrote a fantastic story with compassion and understanding for the hearing impaired. If you love sassy romances with witty banter and realistic characters, then this book is for you. Well written and engaging. And the title is great, too! Highly recommend.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Maya became deaf when she was 13 years old. For the past four years, she’s immersed herself into Deaf culture including going to the Pratt School for the Deaf. However, after her mom’s job transfers her to Colorado, Maya is faced with going to a public school–a hearing school.

For the first time since becoming deaf, Maya finds herself heavily immersed in a predominantly hearing culture. As a result of this, she faces conflict over the removal of being heavily immersed into a thriving Deaf culture scene. On a first day of school, the school assigns Nina to show Maya around the school, and while Maya initially resists this, Nina and Maya become quick friends. As a result of this, Maya meets Beau, and suddenly, her rule about not dating hearing boys is questioned.

While there’s a potential romance involved, this heavily deals with the cultural clash between hearing and Deaf because hearing people cannot truly understand the difficulties that those who are deaf (or Deaf) go through. Maya deals with this at school and at hospitals. The biggest conflict she has with this is the number of people who think she should have a cochlear implant–more on that shortly.

This story very frequently renders ASL signs into text. Because the author is Hard of Hearing and works actively within the Deaf community, this is done with understanding that I do not have. From a hearing reader perspective, for what it’s worth, it was done very well, and I could easily keep track of when a conversation was being signed versus being spoken versus being lip-read.

As a final note, as this book picks up steam (because I think this is going to be a very successful book), if you are a hearing reader, it’s extremely important to understand your place in the cochlear implant debate that happens within this story. Quite simply, it’s not your place to pick a side. Some hearing readers definitely won’t understand why there’s a debate, and for that, Alison Gervais does include information in the back of the book while there’s countless articles online about it as well. But as a reminder, Maya’s beliefs on this are her beliefs, and they’re valid beliefs.

With that off my chest, I strongly encourage you to read this book.

The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais releases August 13, 2019.

Maya hasn't been deaf her entire life, but she still has her struggles. So when her mother moves the family across the country, she starts her life over, in a hearing school. We follow Maya as she adjusts to her new life with her small family, learning to make friends and navigate her new world.

This wasn't a bad read, but I did have a few issues with the book. I understand the mom had to move her kids for her job, but her son suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, and the climate in Colorado is awful for that. Her son does nothing but suffer from the moment they get there. I can't imagine having to make the decision of supporting the family or supporting my son. As far as Maya's friendship with Beau and Nina, they were a bit one-sided, with her friends endlessly supporting and doing things for Maya, but her not reciprocating. I was also baffled by Jackson because Beau seems like a good guy, and he's friends with Jackson. Maya hated him and kept wondering why Beau would be friends with him. But Beau defended him without a reason as to why.

I think Gervais did a great job portraying how hard it is to have a disability in the states, what happens when public places that are supposed to be accommodating aren't, and she portrayed Maya's struggle in that well. Maya had great confidence in herself and was happy to be deaf, and that shined through in the book.