We can navigate "The Silence Between Us". (Week 2: Diversity YA Selection)

“Just because you didn’t understand something didn’t make it any less significant.”—Alison Gervais

        This week’s diversity pick, The Silence Between Us follows Maya, a Deaf teenager, as she navigates attending her first hearing school. Prior to her family’s move in the summer between her junior and senior year of high school, Maya attended a school for the Deaf, in which she was immersed in Deaf Culture. Everyone understood her culture and knew sign language. Maya wonders how she will find her place and friends when she is thrown into a world where the only person who speaks her language is Kathleen, her interpreter.

Maya’s first day of school is difficult. While she finds a friend in Nina, the students and faculty confirm Maya’s belief: hearing people do not understand Deaf people. This belief is exacerbated by Beau, the popular scholar, when he is amazed that Maya can speak and asks her why she choses not to. Throughout this story, Maya questions who she truly is and whether she is capable of reaching her goal of becoming a respiratory therapist. Maya was inspired by the doctors that treat her brother’s cystic fibrosis to follow this career path. This spirited teen finds her voice, experiences first love, suffers heartache, and finds a way to bridge the gap between the hearing and Deaf worlds. She shows us all, even if we will never have the same shared experience, we can find understanding.

I love this book for so many reasons. Maya is feisty and unapologetic about her culture and beliefs. However, she is not without faults; Maya is stubborn and has her own biases that are laid bare in detail. I love that this story does not rely on the progression of one or two characters; in fact, most of the characters in this story experience major shifts in understanding. Alison Gervais provides a realistic perspective of young women who is a member of the Deaf community. This glimpse is not always pretty or easy, but it allows readers to find commonality with an underrepresented community. The Silence Between Us provides dialogue that bridges the linguistic aspects of ASL and written language. When Maya is communicating in sign language, the dialogue is written in a short choppy format, for example “you sad, what wrong?” instead of “What’s wrong? You are sad”. Additionally, when Maya is lip reading, the book omits words that Maya cannot decipher. I have gained a lot of knowledge about interacting with Deaf people, Deaf Culture, and how they communicate and navigate the world around them. 

In the Classroom

I would recommend The Silence Between Us to 7- 12th grade classrooms. While this book is written on a 6.9 grade level, readers in secondary school will find the characters and themes relatable. Prior to reading the book, it is important for students to have some background knowledge of Deaf Culture, American Sign Language, hearing aids, and cochlear implants. Creative ASL provides an excellent webquest on Deaf Culture and ASL that can be used as a Cross-curricular activity between History and ELA, linked below. This book lends itself nicely to activities that compare Maya and Beau and activities that discuss the growth of Maya, Beau, Nina, and Maya’s mother. A fun activity to showcase ASL and perhaps, illustrate to students how difficult it may be to learn is to engage in a whole group activity where students watch and interact with the first 10-15 minutes of  Learn Sign Language: Lesson One (Vicars, 2017). Additionally, students could read Draper’s novel Out of my Mind, a story about a girl’s struggle with communication due to her cerebral palsy and compare the texts, characters, and themes. Through this book, students and teachers will gain understanding and appreciation for Deaf Culture. 

References

Creative ASL Teaching. (n.d.). Deaf Awareness Webquest - asl, deaf culture. TPT. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Deaf-Awareness-WebQuest-ASL-Deaf-Culture-4244879?st=9bb0de0ae4554aeb2e32bc5f8527f465 

Draper, S. M. (2013). Out of my mind. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Vicars, B. (2017, November 8). Learn sign language: Lesson 01 (ASL). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaMjr4AfYA0&t=17s