True Biz by Sara Novic

TRUE BIZ by the very talented Sara Novic (Girl at War) is a fascinating read. The main focus of the story is Charlie, a hearing-impaired high school student who has struggled for years to communicate and finally is allowed to attend River Valley School for the Deaf. There is drama and angst in her relationships with her parents and her peers. This is a young woman working hard to find herself and along the way readers are privileged to learn background information and see diagrams about American Sign Language and Black American Sign Language (developed separately in part due to the legacy of segregated schools). Charlie has a cochlear implant which functions poorly and provides another opportunity for Novic (who is deaf) to provide asides and information about Deaf Culture, particularly in contrast to the experiences of classmate Austin, whose family has had deaf members for generations. Charlie, like so many adolescents, makes some poor choices, but there is caring adult support from February Waters, the headmistress at her new school who is a hearing child of deaf parents. The often troubled relationship between Feb and Mel, her wife, is part of another story arc within this many-faceted novel. If anything, it tries to accomplish too much, but readers will relate to the characters and learn much from this ambitious work. TRUE BIZ received starred reviews from Booklist (“Moving and revelatory… will draw YA readers.”) and Publishers Weekly (“This is brilliant.”).

Update: So excited to see that this title was chosen to appear on the Alex Awards List for 2023.