Sail Me Away Home by Ann Clare LeZotte

Summary: As a young teacher on Martha’s Vineyard, Mary Lambert feels restless and adrift. So when a league of missionaries invite her to travel abroad, she knows it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Paris is home to a pioneering deaf school where she could meet its visionary instructors Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc—and even bring back their methods to help advance formal deaf education in America! 
But the endeavor comes at a cost: The missionaries’ plan to “save” deaf children is questionable at best—and requires Mary’s support. What’s more, the missionaries’ work threatens the Wampanoag and other native peoples’ freedom and safety. Is pursuing Mary’s own goals worth the price of betraying her friends and her own values?

Mary Lambert has always been a restless sort, so when she gets the opportunity to travel to Europe, of course she’s going to take it. But it comes at a cost – traveling with missionaries whose view of deaf people, and Mary herself, is patronizing and harmful. Mary learns hard lessons along the way about who to trust and how to weigh her own choices and actions. As in the previous books in the trilogy, LeZotte immerses her readers into Mary’s world. She seamlessly tackles topics like discrimination, privilege, and diversity within the Deaf community in a story that offers ample discussion starters without ever becoming preachy. Along the way, readers will meet many real historical figures from Deaf history. Mary finishes her trilogy sure of her home in the Deaf community, wherever her travels take her.

I was honored to be selected by Ann Clare LeZotte to write the reading guide for the trilogy, which contains discussion questions and classroom/programming activities. Check it out the reading guide here.

SAIL ME AWAY HOME is out now.