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Praise for Alison Gervais and

The Silence Between Us

“A spectacular follow-up to In 27 Days, Gervais has written a beautiful contemporary YA novel featuring a strong female lead who isn’t willing to change herself to fit in. A heartwarming own voices story about moving to a new school, making friends, and falling in love.”

—KELLY ANNE BLOUNT, USA TODAY Bestselling Author, Watty Award Winner

“Alison Gervais’ The Silence Between Us, not only captures the anxiety most young people feel when they’ve been uprooted from their community of friends, but in Maya’s case, it’s exacerbated by the fact she is deaf and newly planted in a hearing school. As nervous as Maya is, her wonderful sense of humor enlivens the story for the reader. Gervais has a perfect grasp of the challenges facing Maya and fleshes them out empathetically. Her portrayal of Maya and the pitfalls she faces, in my opinion, are spot on. More subtle is Maya’s natural defensiveness even against those students who attempt to befriend her, throwing up barriers when she suspects pity as their motivation.”

—GINNY RORBY, author of Hurt Go Happy

“A spirited story about a girl trying to find herself and her place in the world. Gervais’ writing is sure to inspire readers to always stand up for who they are.”

—CHRISTINA JUNE, author of It Started with Goodbye, Everywhere You Want to Be, and No Place Like Here

“At its heart, The Silence Between Us is as much about learning to open our minds as it is about learning to open our eyes and ears.”

—MCCALL HOYLE, author of The Thing with Feathers and Meet the Sky

Also by Alison Gervais

In 27 Days

Dedication

DEDICATION

For my parents, who didn’t give up, and for

Tyler, who thinks my hearing aid is cool.

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

I hadn’t set foot inside a hearing school in almost five years, and yet here Mom and I were, sitting in our minivan in the parking lot at Engelmann High School—a hearing school. We’d been waiting about fifteen minutes, and not once had my heart stopped pounding out a painful rhythm in my chest.

Mom reached over and tapped my knee, and I looked up from my lap where I’d been picking at a loose thread on my tie-dye T-shirt. She signed, READY?

I felt myself exhaling heavily. I was most certainly not ready, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice. Hearing school was definitely not my idea, but with the closest school for the Deaf being over an hour away from our new home near Parker, Colorado, we weren’t left with many options.

READY, I signed. WAIT NOT HELP ME.