YA Materials, Literature Log, Book #12: The Silence Between Us

 Title: The Silence Between Us

Author: Alison Gervais

Category: Disabilities Title


When Maya, who is deaf, moves across the country with her mom and younger brother, she is dismayed to learn that she has to attend a hearing high school, not a school for the deaf like she did in before. She needs an interpreter to go to every class with her, and none of the other kids know sign language, her main mode of communication, though she's good at lipreading. When a popular boy named Beau takes the time to learn sign language in order to become friends with Maya, she's surprised, though takes his friendship - and even romance? - in stride in order to pursue her dreams after high school.


While the plot is not something I would have chosen to read on my own, I found myself enjoying this novel. Maya is a relatable character, and as the author is also deaf, there is a great deal of intentionality and accuracy put into this novel. I did greatly enjoy this. I would use this novel with teens to show them that deaf kids are people, just as they are, and encourage them to understand and be open to people with disabilities in their lives. Sometimes, teenagers are mean to each other, but novels like this one can teach understanding for disabled teens like Maya, something I think is very important.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

YA Materials, Literature Logs, Book #20: Dear Martin

Title:  Dear Martin Author:  Nic Stone Category:  YALSA's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Justyce is an intelligent boy in his senior year of high school at a private, highly acclaimed school. That doesn't matter, though, when one night he finds himself the victim of racial profiling when he was simply trying to get his drunk girlfriend home. Even months later, Justyce suffers from painful memories of handcuffs being snapped around his wrists and the fear he felt that night. In an attempt to combat this racial injustice, Justyce begins to write letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and tries to "live like" him when he can. However, the more time goes on, the more Justyce notices racial microaggressions everywhere at his predominantly white school, and he can't sit by and let it happen, not after what he experienced. Dear Martin is such a powerful book, much like Long Way Down . Its characters feel real, like kids that really exist in many communities all over
Read more

YA Materials, Literature Log, Book #11: The 57 Bus

  Title:  The 57 Bus Author:  Dashka Slater Category:  YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults title On a bus trip home from school, the skirt of agender teenager Sasha was set on fire by another teen, Richard. The two did not know each other, and went to different schools. Richard and his friends, who dared him to set Sasha's skirt on fire, thought it was funny that they looked like a boy dressed as a girl, and Richard impulsively caused damage. He did not intend for Sasha to be hurt as badly as they were. This book covers the lives of both teenagers before the incident, Sasha's recovery in the hospital, and the court case that followed, as Richard was charged with hate crimes for his actions. I must admit, I had not heard of this event before choosing this book to read this semester, and I found it very interesting. Through reading the book, I feel like I gained an understanding of both Sasha and Richard, and how nuanced things like this are. I feel that this book cou
Read more

YA Materials, Literature Log, Book #15: Girl in the Blue Coat

Title:  Girl in the Blue Coat Author:  Monica Hesse Category:  Historical Fiction Hanneke lives in Amsterdam in 1943, surviving by smuggling black market goods to wealthy clients in order to provide for her mother and disabled father. She's good at what she does, though she has never taken the time to dig past the black market trade into the revolution she knows is happening under the noses of the German invaders now occupying her city. However, when one client asks Hanneke to find a teenage Jewish girl she was hiding, Hanneke's drive to solve the mystery leads her straight to the heart of the revolution, and to finally see the pain that is being caused all over Amsterdam. I am very glad that I read this novel! I've read a great deal of WWII fiction, though none besides this one set in Amsterdam, and I found it interesting to get a peak into life in the city during German occupation. I found Hanneke to be a little self-centered at times, but I loved seeing her growth. I thi
Read more