Speaking Through the Silence

Debbie Hansen thought things would get better once her dad returned from the Vietnam War, but life seems to be matching up with the title of one of the hit movies of the year, Dad is alive and well. Krista, her deaf little sister, is trapped in a world without sound and communicates through tantrums if people don't understand her attempts to speak. The meanest girl of the "in-group" from Debbie's class hates her guts, which leaves her with only one faithful friend. Maybe. Debbie only wants two things: to teach Krista to talk and to be accepted back into the group where she used to be- her dad went to war. How can she help Krista understand English, much less speak it, if no one allows the poor kid to learn sign language? And will Debbie continue to keep quiet under the Mean Queen's snarky abuse, or will she screw up the courage to speak through her self-imposed silence?