A Quiet Kind of Thunder Review

It's Deaf Awareness Month, so why not share the book perfect for this occasion that I just read and got as a present from a family friend?!

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard is about Steffi, a girl in her last year of high school who has selective mutism. She is hearing, but she also can communicate through sign language (specifically BSL, since the story is set in Britain). She gets assigned to help out a new student in her school named Rhys, who is deaf. Slowly, they become friends and they become a couple. Through Rhys, Steffi is able to meet more people who support her and her disability and alternate communication styles after struggling with them for so long. 

Such a cute romance book! And great disability representation, too. I though this book would be perfect to share this month since it's Deaf Awareness Month. 

But I did give it 4 stars. There is some mild ableism sprinkled throughout the book (although it is handled well at the end). One character is mentioned to have died tragically before the events of the book, and another character later on gets severely injured after falling a few feet from a cliff (don't worry, they get better and live!).

Some other great books to check out with deaf and sign language representation are: A Sign of Affection by Suu Morishita (a cute romance series!), The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill, and Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker.