A Quiet Kind of Thunder

November 15, 2017
A 16-year-old English girl with too much anxiety to speak in public makes a new friend.Steffi no longer identifies as selectively mute, though she still finds it nearly impossible to speak in public. She's currently diagnosed with a range of anxiety and communication disorders: healthier but still fragile. And Tem, her sole childhood friend, has switched schools, leaving her alone. Nevertheless, Steffi's been doing cognitive behavioral therapy and has started medication; she's determined to make this the year when she speaks in school. A teacher introduces Steffi to a new boy at school, Rhys, because he's deaf, and Steffi knows a little British Sign Language. A very little--Steffi's BSL and Rhys' lip reading are adequate, but as their friendship grows, they switch fluidly among sign, fingerspelling, writing, and texts. Her deepening relationship with Rhys is exciting, but is he with her only because she speaks BSL? Steffi's improving mental health might enable her to go to university despite parental ambivalence, but her expanding social life alienates her from Tem. There's broad representation in this romantic coming-of-age novel: of perception of disability (Steffi wants to be "normal," Rhys wouldn't choose to hear); of family support (Steffi's infantalizing mum, Rhys' BSL-fluent family); of a racially diverse community (Steffi's white, Tem's black, Rhys is biracial black/white, and their community is realistically diverse).Both earnest and nuanced without seeking causes or cures. (Fiction. 14-16)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-When Steffi solves an equation out loud, her shocked classmates turn and stare. At school, Steffi never talks: she's a selective mute with glossophobia and an anxiety disorder. She also has supportive parents, a good therapist and the resolve to communicate at least sometimes-at her part-time job, for example, or with Tem, her trusted friend. It's not that Steffi doesn't want to speak; but sometimes, she just can't. Or, as she puts it: "Meekness is my camouflage. Silence is my force field." This doesn't phase Rhys, however, a new student who is deaf, for whom the speaking world is always silent. That's why he's a good foil and love interest. Unfortunately, he has a habit of editing himself when he signs, keeping his negative thoughts from others and making him hard to read. He may have a wonderful smile, but deep down he's pretty sure that Steffi can do better, which she assures him is not true. Together they build the confidence to find their own voices in a committed relationship. This issues-driven read will make teens care as much about the characters as about the issues that it raises. VERDICT A strong contemporary novel that portrays strength of character through a romance between its protagonists. Recommended as a general purchase.-Georgia Christgau, Middle College High School, Long Island City, NY

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.