Review: Silence by Deborah Lytton

 

Silence by Deborah Lytton

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published January 6th 2015 by Shadow Mountain 

Source: I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

Description: Love is blind, but it's also deaf. Stella was born to sing. Someday Broadway. Even though she's only a sophomore at a new high school, her voice has given her the status as a "cool kid." But everything changes when a tragic accident renders her deaf. She can't hear herself sing not to mention speak. She can't hear anything. Silence. What happens when everything you've dreamed of and hoped for is shattered in a single moment?

Enter Hayden, the boy with blond curls who stutters. He's treated like an outcast because he's not "normal." And, yet, Stella feels an attraction to him that she can't explain. As Hayden reaches out to help Stella discover a world without sound, his own tragic past warns him to keep a distance. But their connection is undeniable. Can the boy who stutters and the girl who's deaf ever find a happily-ever-after? Silence is a story of friendship and hope with a lesson that sometimes it takes a tragedy to help us find and appreciate beauty and love in unexpected places. 

My Review: There are a lot of things in life that I take for granted. My five senses are at the top of the list. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have the world at the tip of my fingers and with one accident, lose it all.

Stella has an amazing voice and has a big goal-- "Someday Broadway." She's only a sophomore, yet she has the lead in the school musical. Until a freak accident at a party leaves her unable to hear...leaves her world silent. She starts to lose hope and is so afraid of what the future will bring. Until Hayden.

"I know only one thing. He is the white feather of hope drifting through the darkness of my days. And if I can hold on, I just might be able to fly."

Hayden is a new boy in school and Stella feels an instant connection with him. He's had a hard life and knows what it's like to be silent, in a way. He spent eight years unable to talk and now he talks slowly, with a stutter, but he's incredibly talented on the piano. He is determined to help Stella and seems to be the only one who can, but life doesn't make it easy for them to be together.

I love the way Hayden is able to help Stella really feel the other senses. I love the connection they share and the way that's expressed. I was moved by the relationship Stella has with her mom and her younger sister, Emerson. When times get tough, true friends are the ones who stick around and there's nothing that says those friends can't be family. Told in first person, in alternating views, this story is one that will really make a reader think and feel a range of emotion--love, happiness, fear, and even anger.

Content: Squeaky clean romance; no language or violence; mild religious elements (characters attend church)

 

About the Author:  
Deborah Lytton is an established writer who began her work life as an actress at the age of six. She graduated from UCLA and Pepperdine University with a degree in law before becoming a writer. She lives in California with her two daughters and is an active blogger and member of SCBWI.