Dust by Alison Stine

DUST by Alison Stine features Thea, a sixteen-year old who is deaf in one ear, but whose parents choose to ignore that reality. In fact, her father seems to increasingly separate from reality and has moved the family to a place called Bloodless Valley in Colorado where dust is everywhere and farming, especially without any modern aides, is almost impossible.  Thea and her younger sister are “unschooled,” kept at home and made to work on the farm, although Thea has a brief reprieve when she is able to work to support the family at a small café. Through the owner’s kindness she meets the agricultural agent and his great nephew, Ray, plus the local librarian and some other homesteaders.  Ray is also hard of hearing and begins to teach Thea to sign. Her father objects and her life narrows considerably. It is obvious that Stine, who is herself half deaf due to a congenital disability, has compassion for people with differences. She writes, “What I hope you take away from this book is: desire and energy to protect Earth and all its inhabitants, and also the knowledge that your story, whatever it is, matters. It's sometimes hard being both/neither, but there's a lot of joy too. And you're okay the way you are.” Stine effectively uses empty spaces and underlining to convey the frustration of Thea’s inability to hear clearly. Plus, the author does build suspense about an impending storm, but the pat way in which Thea’s father is suddenly transformed into accepting help and technology like new cell phones does not seem probable. DUST was very sad and the pace was slow. Reflecting on other books with hard of hearing characters, I would highly recommend True Biz which received multiple starred reviews and was an Alex Award nominee as well as a New York Times bestseller. 

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Story by James McBride

THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE by award-wining author James McBride is a complex, difficult novel to describe, but one that deserves your attention. Here are some thoughts from the author’s interview on PBS NewsHour:

Encouraging writers to forget race and focus on humanity, McBride says, “Self-definition is the first step towards self-control. ... just appreciate everyone for who they are.” He develops rich characters in his latest novel which centers on Pottstown Pennsylvania’s Chicken Hill neighborhood where Moshe and Chona Ludlow integrated a theater and ran a grocery store although the community was mostly filled with Black residents, including de facto community leader Nate (the theater’s janitor) and his wife, Addie. A skeleton is found in 1972, but relevant events from 40 years earlier drive the mystery and McBride's empathetic social commentary about marginalized groups (Jews, Blacks, Italian immigrants) in America. THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE was a LibraryReads selection for August 2023 and received multiple starred reviews: Booklist (“Funny, tender, knockabout, gritty, and suspenseful”), Kirkus (“pitch-perfect dialogue”), Library Journal (“compellingly written, and not to be missed”), AND Publishers Weekly (“endlessly rich saga”). For additional perspective, especially about the novel’s rather slow pace, here is the New York Times review.

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.