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A review by isbn_978teb
True Biz by Sara Nović
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
2.5
This was a really intriguing and informative read. I enjoyed the fact that although there were 3 main POVs, they each had a different relationship with deafness allowing the reader to be exposed to various realities of people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. If I had to choose a favorite character it'd have to be Charlie. Homegirl truly found her voice through ASL and I love that for her. A reminder that everyone has a voice whether you know what it sounds like or not. I love love loved the bits of history on deafness, the challenges overcome, and the strides taken from the brave individuals who refused to settle for less just because society labels them as "broken". Extra kudos for discussing the discrimination that happens within the community due to lack of ASL knowledge, RACE, class and proximity.
Now what I thought could've been handled with some more care is the underage sex and drug usage, the adult + minor relationship, and lack of clear consent. Most importantly because majority of the characters are minors and that appears to be the target audience of this book. One other thing that I'm on the fence about is the possible tokenism with the characters Kayla and Alisha. The lack of development of those characters does raise an eyebrow. I mean we even randomly got a chapter from Kayla 's pov more than 50% into the book that didn't really give us much and never to be revisited again. So while I hope that was not the intent it could've been executed better.
I briefly learned a very small amount of ASL with a friend during summer of 2018 not thinking anything would really come of it. That same summer I had the opportunity to assist a deaf customer who wanted to buy a Nintendo Switch, but was having difficulty getting help from my coworkers. All that to say I've been inspired to get back into learning ASL and I hope you read this and have the same feeling :)
Now what I thought could've been handled with some more care is the underage sex and drug usage, the adult + minor relationship, and lack of clear consent. Most importantly because majority of the characters are minors and that appears to be the target audience of this book. One other thing that I'm on the fence about is the possible tokenism with the characters Kayla and Alisha. The lack of development of those characters does raise an eyebrow. I mean we even randomly got a chapter from Kayla 's pov more than 50% into the book that didn't really give us much and never to be revisited again. So while I hope that was not the intent it could've been executed better.
I briefly learned a very small amount of ASL with a friend during summer of 2018 not thinking anything would really come of it. That same summer I had the opportunity to assist a deaf customer who wanted to buy a Nintendo Switch, but was having difficulty getting help from my coworkers. All that to say I've been inspired to get back into learning ASL and I hope you read this and have the same feeling :)