For Jan. 11: True Biz

 

This novel, from author Sara Nović, is set in an Ohio residential school for deaf teens. "True biz" is a phrase in American Sign Language that means "really," "seriously" and even "no shit." That's the feel of the book as well--no punches pulled.

The narrative passes from Charlie, who has a cochlear implant that is imperfect at best and whose hearing family discourages her from learning and using ASL, to Austin, who comes from a respected deaf family that's about to plunge into chaos, to February, the school's headmistress, a hearing child of deaf parents who has personal and professional crises on her hands. 

There are fascinating themes and illustrated mini-essays in the book about deaf language, history and culture and the pressure to use cochlear devices. There's also punk music, the crumbling Ohio economy, rebelliousness that turns criminal and complicated family dynamics. 

Nović was born hearing but began losing hearing in middle school. She says: "At the time, I didn’t know any other Deaf people and tried to hide my hearing loss, which I understood as a kind of failure. When I met other Deaf people and learned ASL as an older teen, it was a feeling of great joy and homecoming, as well as a huge relief in terms of the amount of sheer effort and exhaustion that comes from communicating in spoken English." 

There's a good Q&A with Nović here, but it has some plot spoilers, so you might want to wait until you finish the book. I hope you enjoy "True Biz"!

~Carroll