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A review by liamliayaum
True Biz by Sara Nović
4.5
Content Warnings: Audism, death, emotional abuse, physical abuse
My actual rating is 4.5/5 stars, for reasons below, but this is definitely closer to 5 than 4 stars in my book. Also, go read this book. NOW.
True Biz is the story of the students and administrator of River Valley School for the Deaf in southern Ohio. Charlie, a new high school student whose cochlear implant has been giving her issues and struggles with language. Austin, born into a multi-generational Deaf family who suddenly has to deal with his new sister being hearing. February, the Headmistress dealing with the decline of her mother on top of fighting for the school and to keep her marriage afloat. There are a few chapters focused on other characters, but Charlie, Austin, and February are the main stars. A story of identity, love, and language.
Bringing Deaf identity and culture to the forefront, this book highlights the instant community of being Deaf or Hard of Hearing, and further impacts the reader by providing brief American Sign Language (ASL) lessons of both signs and important cultural stories. Through the characters, the reader learns that there is just not one Deaf experience (nor has there ever been) and Sara Novic intricately describes a multitude of experiences of Deafness and how Deaf people navigate the world. Over the course of a school year, you'll fall in love with these characters and their stories.
My one knock on this beautiful novel (that we truly need more like it!) is that the ending wasn't much of an ending. I'm more of a fan of wrapping up most of the plot points compared to ending in what feels like a middle of a sentence, in that while a few things may be wrapped up, there are still too many questions. I understand that this is a stylistic choice and that life, unlike most novels, doesn't always end with a nice and neat ending. However, if the ending was purposeful to lead into a sequel, I'm all for that. =)
My actual rating is 4.5/5 stars, for reasons below, but this is definitely closer to 5 than 4 stars in my book. Also, go read this book. NOW.
True Biz is the story of the students and administrator of River Valley School for the Deaf in southern Ohio. Charlie, a new high school student whose cochlear implant has been giving her issues and struggles with language. Austin, born into a multi-generational Deaf family who suddenly has to deal with his new sister being hearing. February, the Headmistress dealing with the decline of her mother on top of fighting for the school and to keep her marriage afloat. There are a few chapters focused on other characters, but Charlie, Austin, and February are the main stars. A story of identity, love, and language.
Bringing Deaf identity and culture to the forefront, this book highlights the instant community of being Deaf or Hard of Hearing, and further impacts the reader by providing brief American Sign Language (ASL) lessons of both signs and important cultural stories. Through the characters, the reader learns that there is just not one Deaf experience (nor has there ever been) and Sara Novic intricately describes a multitude of experiences of Deafness and how Deaf people navigate the world. Over the course of a school year, you'll fall in love with these characters and their stories.
My one knock on this beautiful novel (that we truly need more like it!) is that the ending wasn't much of an ending. I'm more of a fan of wrapping up most of the plot points compared to ending in what feels like a middle of a sentence, in that while a few things may be wrapped up, there are still too many questions. I understand that this is a stylistic choice and that life, unlike most novels, doesn't always end with a nice and neat ending. However, if the ending was purposeful to lead into a sequel, I'm all for that. =)