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A review by leigh_ann_15_deaf
Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale
5.0
Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters.
To preface, I loved this story because it's exactly the kind of story I like to read--the comedy, the friendship, the quirkyness--chef's kiss!
Now, about Ana, the deaf character: She is fairly realistic, and the authors had deaf sensitivity readers (including Cece Bell!). Ana wears hearing aids, and dispels myths about them and lipreading throughout the novel. She knows a little ASL, but is not fluent, because her family has raised her orally. Ana also speaks Spanish!
A nice touch for me was the grammar in the text messages: it's exactly how deaf people text.
There are a few things that did not work for me:
1. Ana's history teacher refuses to wear the mic that would make his class accessible to Ana, and Doreen ends up tutoring Ana. Unacceptable! I wish they had advocated for Ana's in-class inclusion rather than doing hours of extra work after school.
2. Apparently Doreen’s dad is a hearing aid nerd, as he knows the lingo (BTE, etc.) and asks which model and how hers work in the wind. There's no explanation for how or why dad got into HA tech, so it comes off as contrived and cringey.
3. A squirrel picks up some ASL and signs to Ana, who understands it after a few tries. I was laughing so hard at this scene I literally started crying. I totally get that this was a function of the narrative, and the squirrel characters all have a higher level of intelligence than most people who have interacted with real squirrels ascribe to them, but the fact that the squirrel has learned the exact signs that were most convenient in this situation is even more contrived. Ahhhh! Hahaha. It was hilarious in the moment but the more I think of what it means, it really reduces ASL to a simple system of communication rather than a language, etc. I won't get super into it here.
Anyway, overall a great representation, and a wonderful story.
Link to ranked list of deaf characters in fiction: https://modcast.blog/2022/12/17/ranked-deaf-characters-in-fiction/
To preface, I loved this story because it's exactly the kind of story I like to read--the comedy, the friendship, the quirkyness--chef's kiss!
Now, about Ana, the deaf character: She is fairly realistic, and the authors had deaf sensitivity readers (including Cece Bell!). Ana wears hearing aids, and dispels myths about them and lipreading throughout the novel. She knows a little ASL, but is not fluent, because her family has raised her orally. Ana also speaks Spanish!
A nice touch for me was the grammar in the text messages: it's exactly how deaf people text.
There are a few things that did not work for me:
1. Ana's history teacher refuses to wear the mic that would make his class accessible to Ana, and Doreen ends up tutoring Ana. Unacceptable! I wish they had advocated for Ana's in-class inclusion rather than doing hours of extra work after school.
2. Apparently Doreen’s dad is a hearing aid nerd, as he knows the lingo (BTE, etc.) and asks which model and how hers work in the wind. There's no explanation for how or why dad got into HA tech, so it comes off as contrived and cringey.
3. A squirrel picks up some ASL and signs to Ana, who understands it after a few tries. I was laughing so hard at this scene I literally started crying. I totally get that this was a function of the narrative, and the squirrel characters all have a higher level of intelligence than most people who have interacted with real squirrels ascribe to them, but the fact that the squirrel has learned the exact signs that were most convenient in this situation is even more contrived. Ahhhh! Hahaha. It was hilarious in the moment but the more I think of what it means, it really reduces ASL to a simple system of communication rather than a language, etc. I won't get super into it here.
Anyway, overall a great representation, and a wonderful story.
Link to ranked list of deaf characters in fiction: https://modcast.blog/2022/12/17/ranked-deaf-characters-in-fiction/