Representation: Deaf main character, child of deaf adult
Trigger warnings: Ableism

6/10, an original and interesting sci-fi and realistic contemporary YA novel. The details on the page are amazing, and the main character Piper is complex and flawed, but she makes some bad decisions, which landed her in prison, and I can't excuse that. Also the world building started to fall apart, the dystopia was so easy to fix, just grow food and that's it? Really, that's so convenient, I don't know how the government didn't realise this, and why they couldn't just make renewable energy in an oil crisis? At least I learned how Deaf people were treated and how they lived, that's one good part of the book. The end was ok when Piper finally gets accepted into her job and I got to see her character develop when she learns Auslan and celebrates her Deafness rather than just using lip reading and the character dynamic between her and the other character Marley was good.
If you want a more convincing and terrifying dystopia, try Fahrenheit 451 or 1984 instead of this book. ( )

Excellent novel about coping with a dystopian world AND issues surrounding being Deaf. Piper lives in a future Melbourne that has forgotten how to grow its own food and is relying on manufactured meals from a world wide company with lots of issues due to the price of fossil fuels. To make matters worse, her mother works for the company and also wants Piper to fit in to the hearing world by not learning sign language, so she doesn't stand out. Piper has coped so far with her lip reading , hearing aids and the help of her best friend. But when her friend starts wagging school Piper starts to struggle. Then her mother loses her job and she and Piper must move into their tiny bungalow and rent out their house to make ends meet. With petrol at a record high, Piper decides to fix up her old bike and in the bike shop she meets Marley. Marley is a CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult) and can sign, and he and his Deaf mother Robbie open up Piper's eyes to the Deaf community, the language Auslan and the value of growing your own food. Piper and Marley's friendship grows as Marley teaches her to sign and all is going well until her mother drops the bombshell that they are moving to Sydney.
Very believable storyline with the added issue of Deafness and all its challenges. The author is herself Deaf and his illustrated the novel throughout with drawings of characters and places. There are also charts that relate to the permaculture movement such as how to make a compost pile, etc which are very informative and fit well into the story. At no stage did I feel I was being preached to (which could be a real danger in this type of novel) but rather you are going on a journey of discovery with Piper, her neighbours and her mother. One for older readers due to naked illustration of Piper washing her self in the sink in the depths of her poverty - this is not gratuitous but in keeping with the plot. ( )