Having lost her hearing at the age of thirteen from a bout with meningitis, seventeen-year-old Maya moves through the world with the ability to speak clearly but with a preference for using American Sign Language as a declaration that she is proud and happy to be a deaf person. When she transfers from the Pratt School for the Deaf to a “normal” high school across the country to finish her last year of high school, she is both apprehensive and defensive in her approach to associating with hearing students and faculty, making snap judgments and missteps as often as she finds her classmates and teachers doing. It is a learning experience for all. As senior year progresses, she makes friends, has a romance, applies to and is accepted at a college where she can pursue her occupational dream of being a respiratory therapist, and generally settles into someone she can finally define as herself.
This is a fine book that describes the life of a hearing-impaired YA as she moves from high-school life into adulthood. Relationships are depicted realistically and characters will be relatable to teens. This is a must purchase for any secondary school library.
Categories: Art, Books We Recommend, Books with No Objectionable Content, Civil Rights, Differently Abled, Diversity, Navigating through High School, Parent Conflict, Peer Relationships
Before You Buy YA 
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