A review by lenoirleon
Joss by Erin Falligant

4.0

Back at the beginning of the year, there was a lot of excitement about American Girl’s Girl of the Year and the new book. I listened and read, but also kind of ignored it. So often, I feel like things revolving around hearing impairment are publicized, but they’re not accurate. Maybe they talk a lot about lip reading (really isn’t a valid mode of communication, but it can help a little)or someone wears a hearing aid or speech processor and hears everything perfectly(it doesn’t work like that-and it doesn’t fix not hearing words or understanding language). So I figured this book would fall in that category.
But I was wrong. I can’t speak from experience of what it’s like to have a hearing loss. But the challenges that Joss faces-the extra responsibility placed on her for keeping up with her hearing aid, the fact that even with her hearing aid in, she misses words in conversations when backs are turned or environmental noise is high, the use of the transmitter/pen, losing her hearing aid and having to ask everyone to help-I see my students deal with those daily. Perhaps Joss is a little more confident and a stronger advocate than many of the kids I’ve worked with-especially for a ten year old-but the portrayal of what a child with a hearing loss faces on a daily basis was, in my eyes, very realistic.
So, as a teacher of students with hearing loss-I definitely endorse this book. Read it.