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When:
Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 5:30pm.
By:
Sara Novic
Summary:
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, Publishers Weekly
True biz (adj./exclamation; American Sign Language): really, seriously, definitely, real-talk
True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the hearing headmistress, a CODA (child of deaf adult(s)) who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another—and changed forever.
This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.
About the author:
Sara is the author of the novel GIRL AT WAR (2015), the nonfiction project AMERICA IS IMMIGRANTS (2019), and Reese’s Book Club April 2022 pick, TRUE BIZ, all from Random House.
Sara has an MFA from Columbia University, where she studied fiction and literary translation. She teaches creative writing and Deaf studies at Emerson College and Stockton University, and lives in Philadelphia.
For more writing, information and events, visit http://sara-novic.com.
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