True Biz: A Novel

Product Information

I have worked alongside the Deaf community for more than three decades and I’m still heartbroken about many of the issues brought forward in this story. I hope it compels readers to learn more about ASL and Deaf culture. The final notes on all the Schools for the Deaf that have closed tore at my heart. I fervently hope that we do not lose all residential schools for the Deaf as they are such a critical part of the care and keeping of this cherished culture. Charlie describes an attraction “not only to [Austin] but to the kind of person he was, the life that might have been hers if she had his stride and sureness and a hundred years of sign language coded right into her bones.” Do you think it’s common for crushes to walk this line between romantic attraction and envy? I feel so bad for this rating, as I really wanted to love this book and I had extremely high expectations for it.

How much knowledge did you have about the Deaf community and/or ASL before you started True Biz? In what ways did the novel reflect or augment your understanding? For those who loved the Oscar-winning film CODA, a boarding school for deaf students is the setting for a kaleidoscope of experiences.”— The Washington Post Mr. Serrano, we’re in a bit of a situation. The campus is closed today, so you can take Charlie on home.i 100% fully recommend this book! especially if you ever wanted to learn more about deaf culture and ASL! family life, friendships, first love, disunity, disharmony, quarreling, loss, and a full range of personal and political struggles…. True Biz” by Sara Novic opened my eyes to the deaf community and their struggles. I did not know how disenfranchised the community is. This is a beautiful story that shows how deaf adolescents struggle with mainstream academia. Most important for me is the information regarding the cochlear implants. The history of that device is frightening.

I appreciated learning about the history of the deaf community that is included in the book. The story itself is riveting. I think "True Biz" will be one of my favorite books for 2022. For me, this hits a bit differently as I have two hereditary defects: Celiac Disease and Hyperprolinemia Type II. Charlie, the deaf daughter of hearing parents and one of the school's newest students, had a cochlear implant as a toddler, but the hearing-world functionality her doctors promised never emerged. Instead, she's been spending years of her life being prohibited from learning ASL and fighting the discomfort and distraction of the implant while relying on lip reading that leaves her guessing about what those around her are saying. She perceives her parents' efforts to keep her in the hearing world as a demonstration of shame they feel as a result of her deafness. The story is centred around a fictional school for deaf students that is about to be closed down. There are three main characters: the headmistress February, a student called Charlie whose mother does not accept her daughter’s deafness, and another student called Austin who comes from a family with multiple generations of deaf people. There are attempts to depict how deaf youth have no control over their bodies, and how they are frustrated due to language deprivation and continual misunderstanding. Interspersed between the fictional narrative, there are nonfiction snippets about ASL, deaf culture, civil disobedience and anarchism. An electrifying narrative set at a present-day boarding school for Deaf high school students, where they find love and friendship and battle a series of injustices. . . . Nović offers an unforgettable homage to resilience. This is brilliant.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)People, like my husband who live with tinnitus—who can’t be in a crowd with a lot of chatter going on — would love to go to a busy bar and or restaurant where only sign language was allowed. Sara Novic is one of the best writers of my generation—not just the novelist of Deaf culture, but of human nature writ large. Do yourself a favor and get this book—it is inimitable.” —Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa Years ago, when our now forty year old daughter, was fourteen, she was cast in the leading role of Helen Keller, — a local equity theater company. But with it not working properly, Charlie has been left in a limbo of sorts—somewhat able to listen and communicate but not fully. Her story was pretty heartbreaking at times. As the novel opens, February is in flux because three of her students are missing, Charlie being one of them. As February arranges a search, Novic shifts the story to Charlie six months earlier. February is arranging to Charlie to start boarding in her school. February’s parts provide the reader with the professional situation occurring right now in the deaf community. Her chapters provide information on America’s outlook on deaf children and the cultural extinction of deaf heritage.