Weekend Pick for March 25, 2022

Weekend Pick for March 25, 2022

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This week's pick is 2020 Schneider Family Book Award, Best Teen Honor Book--Alison Gervais's The Silence Between Us. The story follows Deaf teen Maya who moves across the country for her mother's job and enters a hearing school for the first time. As though moving in the middle of high school isn't hard enough, Maya faces the frustrating expectations of hearing culture and the subtle and not so subtle ableist mindsets surrounding her. Focused on her future dreams, graduation, and family life, Maya unexpectedly finds friendship and even romance. Despite pressures to question her Deaf identity, Maya pushes back showing Deafness is not a disadvantage, but a facet of human diversity. When looking at her self-portrait, she thinks, "...all I had to do was take out my hearing aids, close my eyes, and the world was mine. There were no limits to my imagination when it was just me and the universe." 

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I loved this story and the entirely relatable exploration of belonging first to oneself before anyone or anything else. I also really appreciate the fact that Gervais writes from experiential knowledge. As a self-identified hard of hearing author, Alison Gervais advocates for more stories with positive representations of disability stating, “It’s time we see more Deaf characters in books. It’s time we see more books celebrating sign language and Deaf culture." So this weekend, I echo Gervais's call for all of us to celebrate Deaf culture and powerful disabled female protagonists like Maya through picking up a copy of The Silence Between Us. It is a beautifully written, page turning tale of self-love. 

Thank you so much for following along with me for the picks this month, Women's History Month! I hope you found some books you loved, and I hope you continue to read stories celebrating all women throughout the year. Signing off for now.

Keep Reading!
xo
Cammie ​

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