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Characters:
Characters:
Charlie Sorreno: A deaf high schooler with hearing parents. Never learned ASL
Charlie Sorreno: A deaf high schooler with hearing parents. Never learned ASL
February Waters: Headmistress at River Vally School for the Deaf; Hearing, CODA (Child of Deaf Adults); Married to Mel (Hearing)
February Waters: Headmistress at River Vally School for the Deaf; Hearing, CODA (Child of Deaf Adults); Married to Mel (Hearing)
Austin Workman: A deaf high schooler attending River Valley School for the Deaf; Prominent deaf family; Fluent ASL
Austin Workman: A deaf high schooler attending River Valley School for the Deaf; Prominent deaf family; Fluent ASL
"True Biz" is a coming of age novel that follows Charlie Serreno, readers watch as she navigates her parents divorce and her new residential deaf school. This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation, injustice, and first love and loss. We watch Charlie change and better understand herself as she navigates high school and her new found language as she gains confidence with communication.
Beyond Charlie the story follows February Waters, the headmistress of River Valley School for the deaf. We watch February navigate her identity with respect to her relationships both inside and outside the deaf community.
Lastly, we follow Austin Workman; a deaf student at River Valley. Austin comes from a very affluent deaf community as his father is an interpreter and his mother and most other members of his family are deaf. His life is pictured as ideal for a deaf high schooler, that is until his new baby sister is born hearing. For the first time Austin doesn't feel proud of his deafness and feels his relationship with is father is at risk.
Author:
Author:
Sara Novic
Sara Novic
"True Biz" is inspired a real issue with cochlear implants in 2003 where an "engineer for the company Advanced Bionics warned that its cochlear implants — devices surgically inserted into the skull and connected to auditory nerves — were prone to leaks, allowing moisture into the device. Some recipients, both children and adults, experienced electrical shocks, convulsions and vomiting. In spite of that knowledge, the company continued to sell the implants until 2006" (NYT). Sara was born hearing, and began losing her hearing in middle school. She didn’t know any other Deaf people and tried to hide her hearing loss, and felt it was a kind of failure. When she met other Deaf people and learned ASL as an older teen, it was a feeling of great joy and homecoming (BookTrib).
Citations
Citations
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