SAME, I signed back to her while squeezing Beau’s hand impossibly tight.

A year and a half ago I couldn’t have felt more terrible about moving out here to Colorado, but it hadn’t turned out so bad in the end. I’d found Beau and Nina and now Melissa was here, and it didn’t even matter who was Deaf or hearing.

We just were.

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This entire project wouldn’t have been possible without Jillian Manning, who believed in me, or my dear friend Staci Nichols, who gave me the encouragement I needed to start telling Maya’s story.

A million thanks are also due to the folks over at Blink, including but not limited to: Hannah VanVels, Sara Bierling, Jennifer Hoff, Annette Bourland, and too many others to name. I’m very fortunate to have a strong publishing team to work with. And of course, I must thank my amazing literary agent, Shannon Hassan, for taking Maya’s story and running with it.

I want to thank the Deaf community as well, for helping me along as I figure out my place in both worlds and learn their beautiful language, and everyone else I’ve had the pleasure of working with in my time as a Deaf Services Specialist. It truly has been a life changing experience.

As always, I also have to thank my parents, Sharon and Tony, for their continued support, and all the members of my family. You know who you are.

I’d be lost without the support of all my fellow authors too, such as Christina June, McCall Hoyle, and Kelly Anne Blount. They are far more knowledgeable than I am and more than willing to help out a newbie like me.

And a special thanks must go to my husband Tyler. I’m not sure what I would’ve done if I didn’t have you to hold my hand through all my breakdowns during the whole writing process—and all while we were planning our wedding too. You’re a champ.

An Interview With Author Alison Gervais

AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR ALISON GERVAIS

What inspired you to write The Silence Between Us? Have you always known your characters’ arcs or were there some surprises along the way?

The inspiration behind The Silence Between Us came from my ongoing work with the Deaf community where I live and the desire to portray a nontraditional character in YA lit. You don’t see many Deaf characters in books out there on the shelves today.

I’m also Hard of Hearing myself, so I’m very familiar with some of the frustrations Maya experiences with her hearing loss throughout the novel. I had a basic outline to work off when I began writing the story, but Maya’s story unfolded in its own way as I worked through the manuscript. I’m a little surprised at how sort of spunky she turned out!