Maya, the protagonist and first-person narrator of the story, is a 17-year-old high school student who has recently moved with her mother and brother to Parker, Colorado. Maya is the only Deaf student at her new school; in New Jersey, where she previously lived, she attended a school for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Maya lost her hearing at 13, after a bout of meningitis. In the years since, she has become a proud member of the Deaf community and is initially skeptical that a hearing high school can meet her needs. When the story begins, she has a noticeably negative attitude toward her new school and her hearing peers—based partly on her lived experiences as a Deaf person and partly on her own fears and misperceptions. At first, Maya is prone to making assumptions about others and shutting down communication in an effort to protect herself.

Although she does not get off to a promising start at her new school because of her low expectations and guarded attitude, Maya has other qualities that eventually lead to her success. Maya is ambitious, hard-working, and fiercely determined. Although she encounters some discrimination and insensitivity at her new high school, and she must work harder than hearing students to understand what is happening in her classes, she manages to do well and secure a place at the prestigious Cartwright University.