True Biz

I came across True Biz by Sara Novic when researching books with good disability representation for a reading challenge - then very fortuitously spotted it in a local charity shop the next time I was browsing for books.

It's set in Ohio, in and around River Valley School for the Deaf, and follows multiple characters - the headmistress (a hearing child of deaf parents who is dealing with family issues), several of the students (from different familial backgrounds - some deaf, some hearing) and their parents.

It's really involving right from the start. The characters are very real and relatable, while also having life experiences very different from mine, both of which made the book really interesting and affecting for me. There's a lot of information in it about Deaf culture, attitudes towards deafness (from both hearing and deaf people), debates about technological advances around cochlear implants and whether or not dedicated schools for deaf children are a good idea.

Some of it is quite soap-boxy, which is understandable, and the inclusion of periodic inserts about different aspects of language, history and culture feels a bit clunky. It gets rather extreme in places (also understandable) and a lot of things are left unresolved at the end, but I think that's kind of the point.

I was fully engaged throughout and really enjoyed this book.