Sara Novic's second novel, True Biz, mixes a lively fictional narrative with some true stories about deaf education and the people involved in it, American sign language and some of the debates on the best way for deaf people to learn and live their lives.

The story is told from several narrative points of view, including that of February Waters, headteacher of River Valley School for the Deaf, a specialist boarding school which takes students with state funding, new girl Charlie Serrano, her friend Austin and her roommate Kayla.

After years of struggling with mainstream school as her mum wished, Charlie has won a battle to attend River Valley, but she has a lot to learn. Austin has a new baby sister and is worried about her. Then they discover that the school's funding and their future is under threat.

As well as the story, there is a lot on contentious political issues relating to disability, history of deaf education and American Sign Language (ASL) and also a separate history of deaf Black people. Some readers might feel that there's too much of this for a novel but I found it really fascinating.

There are lots of pictures of ASL. I buy/read a lot of books via Kindle and I haven't seen the ebook version of this one - I read a copy borrowed from the library - but the level of illustration and detail, and its importance to reading this book, makes me think that this might be one to buy/read in dead tree format.

This was sometimes very funny but also quite serious and thought provoking. ( )

This book left me thinking for a long long time. Plus the story and characters were engaging. You can't ask for more than that. (You could probably ask for a better ending that doesn't leave everything hanging, but the rest of the book was so good that I'm not even mad about it.) ( )

Charley has been battling her hearing parents over her cochlear implant for as long as she can remember, and finally she’s won the right to go to an actual school for the deaf. But she quickly discovers that she’s far behind her peers because her parents didn’t let her learn ASL. Once she begins to learn, so much more of the world opens up to her and she realizes the extent of what of life her mother has denied her in the name of appearances. Parallel to Charley’s story are those of the headmistress of the school, which is dealing with caring for an elderly deaf mother and a jealous wife, and of a fellow deaf student, whose family legacy – everyone is born into the family deaf – and his relationship with his parents is shattered when his baby sister is born hearing.

The more I learn about the deaf community the more I realize I don’t know and want to. There are chapters scattered throughout this novel that detail some of the history behind ASL and the deaf community in the US, and I appreciated those while also really enjoying the story and the characters. My only quibble is that the ending seemed a bit abrupt and a little pat, but otherwise this was a great read. ( )

Een intensief boek over Charlie, doof geboren en op haar tweede een implantaat gekregen. Ze is taalgedepriveerd, totdat ze naar een dovenschool gaat. Daar leert ze, samen met haar vader, gebarentaal. Ze krijgt last van haar implantaat en daar blijkt iets niet goed mee te zijn. Haar moeder opteert voor een nieuw implantaat. Daartegen verzet Charlie zich, samen met twee vrienden van school. ( )

Incredible characters. The author balances them well while weaving the story together with truly informative commentary on the American deaf community. The books is personal and all-encompassing at the same
time.

I wish the age gap romance was handled differently. For as crystal clear as so much of the trauma the characters face comes across, Charlie’s relationship with “Slash” is ultimately a positive thing in her life. It feels like it goes unpunished in a way? ( )