Reviews with content warning for Classism - True Biz

A wonderful dive into Deaf culture and life at a Deaf residential school. The cast of characters is diverse and well developed, each with their own experience of and relationship with their community, culture, and ability (or inability) to assimilate into the hearing world. I found the perspective of the main character stepping into the Deaf world for the first time to be a great way to transition the reader into a culture they may know little about. The interludes between chapters that provided more information about ASL were the perfect level for beginners. I especially appreciated, as one listening to this as an audio book (ironic, I know, but it's the most accessible way for me to read lately), the added noise of hands signing when the text was meant to be signed ASL as opposed to spoken English. It would not have been the same experience otherwise.
Highly recommend this book both to those who have experience with Deaf culture, and those who have none at all.

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ohheyitskaitlin's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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ruffian23's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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martinatan's review

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emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What a killer, heartfelt story! I loved the use of the chapter bumpers as diegetic one-pagers on Deaf culture, ASL, and Wikipedia articles. The ending and how it resolved formative conflicts in the three protagonists’ lives was so satisfying to experience. I loved that it served as a testament to direct action, while showing that the tradeoffs in taking such action are hard to ignore when multiple parties’ livelihoods are at stake.

This novel truly feels like a love letter to the Deaf community and disabled activists. The author does a wonderful job of incorporating different archetypes of Deaf experience that dispel any thoughts of monolith from Deaf ideologies. After reading this, I am more curious about other intersectional identities that were not covered related to race, gender, religion, and other disability.

The formatting of dialogue and illustrative chapter titles speak to the spirit of the term “deaf gain” as opposed to “hearing loss”—these visual and spatial tidbits enhance Nović’s strong artistic voice. Highly recommend to anyone seeking an earnest and important coming-of-age story.

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thehmkane's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Nigh perfect. Absolutely fascinating audiobook, too - the author recorded the sounds the signs make, and the sound plays as the dialog is read, to indicate a character is signing. I'm definitely going to need to check out a print copy, too.

I picked this up at the recommendation of Deaf, deaf, and hearing friends, but the Deaf endorsement meant the most to me. I'm pretty savvy to a lot of the history, but I learned a lot from this book. I appreciated the diversity within the school, and the diversity of perspectives presented. It didn't shy away from depicting difficult situations and complex dynamics.

An important contribution to the canon. Now can we get more Deaf books?

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kimveach's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

True Biz is a fascinating story of a deaf school, its students, and its principal. I learned so much about the struggles within the deaf community regarding cochlear implants, American Sign Language, and how to best educate a child. The decisions parents must make with a newly diagnosed hearing impaired baby were heartbreaking.

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