Category Archives: ASL/Deaf Culture Book Reviews

Read This!: MONSTER HANDS by Karen Kane, Jonaz McMillan, and Dion MBD

American Sign Language, ASL/Deaf Culture Book Reviews, Authors You Should Know, Read This, Recommended Reading, Reviews

Monster HandsMonster Hands by Karen Kane, Jonaz McMillan, and Dion MBD
Summary: When nighttime comes, Milo has a problem—he’s convinced there’s a monster under his bed! Luckily, his best friend Mel knows just what to do—scare the monster more than the monster scares you! So using shadow puppets on the wall, Mel and Milo make monster hands that roar, chomp and even laugh to scare the monster away. But uh oh! What if the monster thinks this is funny! This is NOT funny! Milo has an idea to show the monster who’s boss once and for all. Together Milo and Mel hatch a plan to scare the monster away forever. But in the end, they discover the true cure to a monster problem is a best friend who will stand and face it with you.

What do you do when there’s a scary monster under the bed? Scare it away, of course! Milo and his friend Mel communicate in American Sign Language from their neighboring windows, sharing ideas about what to do with that monster. This clever story features rhyming vocabulary in American Sign Language, and invites readers to sign along to scare that monster away. This book would be a terrific complement to interactive storytime classics like Ed Emberley’s Go Away, Big Green Monster! Check out the educator resource guide with more background information on the signs in the book here.

MONSTER HANDS is out now.

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Read This!: THE BUTTERFLY CAGE by Rachel Zemach

ASL/Deaf Culture Book Reviews, Read This, Recommended Reading, Reviews

The Butterfly CageThe Butterfly Cage by Rachel Zemach
Summary: A tender and perspective-shifting book that offers a rare level of understanding about the subtle and no-so-subtle layers of internalized oppression and deep feelings and dilemmas of Deaf people, written by former Deaf teacher Rachel Zemach. This mesmerizing, funny, and disruptive narrative invites you to be a fly on the wall in a Deaf classroom at a hearing school, experiencing the immense frustration, unbridled joy, and indelible humor that arise for Deaf adults and children in a hearing environment. Rachel struggles with staff, administration, and aides who sabotage her efforts at every turn. The students contend with a principal who removes their textbooks, intercom announcements that are totally inaccessible and a system that renders them all defenseless against these dysfunctional and often absurd forces. You’ll meet seven-year-old Laszlo, the brilliant, language-hungry boy who will capture your heart, and the political, fiercely intelligent elite members of the Deaf community who rally to change legislation after his life takes a shocking turn at age sixteen when he makes a heart-wrenching decision. In a series of short, distinctive chapters, Zemach shares her personal Deafhood journey, poignant scenes from the classroom, shocking individualized education meetings and their impact, and the larger political and historical picture surrounding Deaf education.

I LOVE this book. Honestly, I want to shove it into the hands of hearing people on the street and say, “Read this! Just read this, and maybe, maybe, you’ll start to understand.” Zemach introduces so many important concepts and historical moments that are crucial for understanding the Deaf world – and lends immediacy, context, and humanity to those abstract concepts by grounding them in her own story. She brings her classroom to life before our eyes, showing the wonder and promise of her Deaf students, and the mainstream education system that failed them time and time again. As a teacher/librarian/camp counselor and director who has worked with Deaf kids for many years, I was entranced at how well she shows how much Deaf kids ROCK. Zemach’s writing is lovely, filled with beautiful turns of phrase, elegant descriptions, and, when necessary, unpleasant but very necessary truths.

THE BUTTERFLY CAGE is out now.

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Read This!: SAIL ME AWAY HOME by Ann Clare LeZotte

American Sign Language, ASL/Deaf Culture Book Reviews, Authors You Should Know, Read This, Recommended Reading, Reviews

Sail Me Away Home (Show Me a Sign #3)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.