Category Archives: Read This

Read This!: MOTHER TONGUE: A MEMOIR by Sara Nović

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Mother TongueMother Tongue by Sara Nović
Summary: Sara Nović’s early years were filled with music, Bible study, and a strong desire to fit in. But when she failed her school’s mandated hearing test, her worldview was thrown into chaos. Desperate not to be marked as different, she told no one, staying in the hearing world for as long as she could by brute force. Eventually unable to ignore the fact that she was deaf, Nović sought out other deaf people and was welcomed into a tight knit community rooted in the beauty and joy of American Sign Language. Nović realized that rather than maintaining the facade of her old life or trying to straddle two worlds, she would need to cultivate a life in the space between. Now the mother of two young sons – one, biological and hearing, the other, adopted and deaf-Nović reflects on her life both before and after parenthood. She’s raising her children within the deaf world, offering them things her younger self needed, all the while knowing that as her children grow, their own paths will branch off from hers in ways she cannot fully predict or plan for. 

I adored Sara Nović’s novel, True Biz, which welcomed readers into the world of a residential school for the deaf via deeply developed characters and lessons about American Sign Language and Deaf Culture cleverly entwined into the plot. And I have long followed Nović’s articles and advocacy work, where she has delivered clear-eyed, nuanced takes on everything from cochlear implants to the value of art. So I couldn’t wait to read her new memoir, Mother Tongue. As always, Nović delivers. This deeply felt book takes us along on her journey from the hearing world to the Deaf world (or deaf world, as she writes it, for reasons she explains in the book). Along the way, deep research on topics such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, international adoption, language deprivation, and the reproductive rights of marginalized people intertwines with personal stories of her experiences with the church, the medical community, the birth of her hearing son, and the adoption of her deaf son. As she reckons with the forces that have shaped her as a person and a writer, Nović will open the reader’s eyes to consider how those forces shape us all.

MOTHER TONGUE is out now.

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Read This!: OUT COLD by E.J. Ridley

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Out Cold (Rook Radcliffe, #1)Out Cold by E.J. Ridley
Summary: Rook Radcliffe can’t burn her past, but she can bury it. Until the last guy she kissed turns up beaten and unconscious. Now she’s caught in the storm that follows. Theo Locke is grieving. Stuck. And when Rook becomes the center of suspicion, he refuses to look away. She knows better than to trust him, but he’s not going anywhere. In a school run by half-truths and Varsity royalty, a sharp, emotional mystery about strength, trust, and what it takes to let someone get close.

This moody high school mystery, the first in a promising new series, gives big Veronica Mars vibes while introducing two characters who are gripping in their own right. Rook is a champion weightlifter forced to go into hiding and give up her passion. As she gets caught up in the brutal blame games and stratifications of high school, the person most dangerous to her turns out to be the one most determined to help her: Theo, the perceptive, kind boy who sees beyond her walls. As suspects, viral moments, and accusations build, Rook’s defenses are pushed to the breaking point. At the end, it’s one crime solved, but Rook has plenty of mystery left for readers to uncover as the series continues.

OUT COLD is out now.

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Read This!: PERFECT ENOUGH by Meg Eden Kuyatt

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Perfect Enough (Good Different #2)Perfect Enough by Meg Eden Kuyatt
Summary: Selah is a dragon. Or at least, she feels like one. And she finally figured out how to spread her wings and soar. Armed with her sensory tools, her notebooks and poems, and her newfound knowledge about her autism, Selah is heading to writing camp for the summer. She’s excited to work on her writing, perform at the final showcase, and to meet more kids like her. Things aren’t so simple though. As soon as she arrives, she realizes that her bully from home is there too. Ezra is chaotic, attention-seeking, and always teasing her. Selah is determined not to let him ruin her summer. But soon it turns out that it’s not just Ezra causing problems. . . . As kind and enthusiastic as Selah’s new friends are, they don’t fully understand her autism and how overwhelming this new environment is for her. Friend drama, classes, overstimulation, and her relationship with Ezra all start to feel like a lot. But surely Selah can make it through just a few weeks without reaching her breaking point again . . . right?

This delightful sequel to Good Different follows Selah as she enters the brave new world of writing camp, armed with the autism diagnosis she received in the first book, and plenty of tools to help her manage sensory overwhelm. But a new environment and new friends come with lots of new challenges. Selah overcomes her negative previous impressions to become friends with Ezra, a boy from her old school. Even though they declare themselves “brain cousins” in neurodivergence, Selah soon realizes that her autism and Ezra’s ADHD express themselves in very different ways. Add to that the exciting (but sometimes overwhelming) experience of rooming with two new friends who share many of her interests but don’t understand her boundaries. (“Rumors say autistic people aren’t good at social cues,” she says, “but I don’t know where that came from because it seems to me that other people don’t get my obvious cues to leave me alone.”) The author shows Selah’s mounting frustrations with her friends and herself in lyrical verse that often incorporates the forms featured in her writing classes. (Take note, language arts teachers! This book has SO many lesson extension possibilities, many of which are included in writing prompts in the backmatter.) My favorite thing about this story is its refusal to tack on a pat happy ending; the story’s conclusion is satisfying and completely earned, and emphasizes that real progress comes in many different forms. For Selah, that is about learning to answer the question: “How do you know what’s a good or bad uncomfortable? The kind that makes you grow or makes you melt down?”

PERFECT ENOUGH is out now.

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Read This!: SPACE FOR SAFFRON by Rie Neal

ASL/Deaf Culture Book Reviews, Authors You Should Know, Read This, Reviews

Space for SaffronSpace for Saffron by Rie Neal
Summary: Ten-year-old Saffron Sawyer loves science, experimenting, and learning new things. From making homemade slime in the back of her moms’ (Mama and Mimi) coffee shop to adopting tadpoles out of the river to learning how to fix bikes from watching YouTube videos, Saffron is confident she’s prepared for any challenge. But when Mama announces they are moving to Silicon Valley to take over Gran’s café, it’s Saffron’s biggest undertaking yet. Silicon Valley is very different from what Saffron’s used to. The streets are filled with electric cars instead of pick-up trucks, and instead of fixing their bikes, people buy new ones. Even worse, the coffee shop is struggling, and if it closes, Saffron and her moms will move again—leaving Gran behind. The one bright spot is Saffron has started at school just in time for the STEM Expo. Science has always been her favorite subject and she’s excited to present her project…until she sees the elaborate presentations her classmates have planned. Convinced she can never measure up, Saffron decides not to join the expo after all. But when Gran takes Saffron to a space-themed art installation in San Francisco, Saffron has an idea for a STEM Expo project that could help her win over her classmates—and maybe even save Gran’s café for good.

Saffron is a lovable space nerd who sometimes gets so excited to DO SCIENCE that she just can’t get out of her own way. After a particularly embarrassing disaster costs her mom her job, Saffron and her moms relocate to Silicon Valley to take over the ailing family cafe. It’s a whole new world for Saffron as she makes friends with the STEM-forward kids in Silicon Valley. When she figures out how to combine her STEM Expo project with an imaginative plan to save the cafe, she’ll need all hands on deck. Saffron’s deafness and her use of a BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid) are woven naturally into the story, which is filled with humor, heart, and endearing characters.

SPACE FOR SAFFRON is out now.

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Read This!: CALL YOUR FATHER by Tracy C. Gold and Vivian Mineker

Authors You Should Know, picture books, Read This, Reviews

Call Your Father: A Tender Picture Book for DadsCall Your Father: A Tender Picture Book for Dads by Tracy C. Gold
Summary: From life’s highs to life’s lows, there’s one person who is always the first one we call: our father. He’s the one we want to comfort us, to wipe our tears, and to share our triumphs. Whether it’s falling off your bike or building your first crib, you can never have too many reasons to call your father. In this beautiful and relatable picture book, follow a father and son through the years as they face each new stage of life together. Accompanied by gentle rhymes from Tracy C. Gold and tender illustrations from Vivian Mineker, this book delivers the powerful and touching message that you are never too old to need your father. The perfect gift for the fathers or grandfathers in your life who always answer the call, this picture book just might make dad cry.

A poignant companion to Gold and Mineker’s previous collaboration, Call Your Mother, this book is a perfect gift for father figures of all kinds. We follow the protagonist from the time he is a little baby rolling on the rug, babbling “Ba ba ba! Da da da!” through the challenges of growing up, from skinned knees to speaking up for classmates, and on into the college years and ultimately becoming a father himself. At every stage, the refrain is the same: “Call your father”…and he always shows up. Gold’s moving text, accompanied by Mineker’s colorful illustrations, shows how the details of Dad’s support might change over the years, but his caring presence remains constant.

CALL YOUR FATHER is out now.

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