Summary
CASEY KOWALSKI once dreamed of becoming a professional singer. Then the universe threw her a life-altering curveball— sudden, permanent, and profound hearing loss—just before her family’s move from Portland to Miami. Now, she’s learning to navigate the world as a Deaf-Hard of Hearing person while trying to conceal her hearing loss from her new schoolmates.
HAYDEN GONZÁLEZ-ROSSI is also keeping secrets. Three generations of González men have risen to stardom on the soccer field, and Hayden knows his family expects him to follow in their footsteps, but he wants to quit soccer and pursue a career on Broadway. If only his Generalized Anxiety Disorder didn’t send him into a debilitating spiral over the thought of telling the truth.
Casey and Hayden are both determined to hide who they really are. But when they cross paths at school, they bond over their shared love of music and their mutual feeling that they don’t belong, and the secrets come spilling out. Their friendship is the beating heart of this dual-perspective story featuring thoughtful disability representation, nuanced queer identities, and a lovably quirky supporting cast.
Review
The Loudest Silence is a book that I adored from cover to cover. It’s a multi-faceted debut about ableism, friendship, and facing our fears. For Casey, the ableism she faces – and faced when she first lost her hearing – has proven to her that she doesn’t need the hassle of friends. She would never tell them about her hearing loss considering her last friends. And for Hayden he feels crushed under the weight of family legacy and fighting against his desire to quit the team and sing. So when Casey and Hayden first meet, they have to figure out how to be vulnerable, honest, and learn to lean on each other.
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The Loudest Silence is a touching and heart warming story. We witness both Hayden and Casey growing and evolving. We see Hayden explore his anxiety and the labels associated with it. For Casey, she has to explore her own grief and her fear of being hurt by the people she loves. My heart ached for both characters as they navigate high school, chasing their dreams, and friendship. They both explore how hard it is to tell people who we are and all the ways we limit ourselves when we are scared. The loudest silence of isolation.
I read The Loudest Silence in a few days because I loved it so much. The friendship between Casey and Hayden made my heart so full. For fans of heartfelt contemporary stories, beautiful family moments, and friends for days, check out The Loudest Silence. Find The Loudest Silence on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.