True Biz is tender and eye-opening. Sara Nović expertly manages to educate her readers on Deaf culture and communication with a light enough touch that we’re still carried away in the fictional lives of these characters and their school, too.
A synopsis:
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.
The tone, pace, character development, and changes in point of view of True Biz were all so beautifully done. And I genuinely feel educated and am left wanting to know more.
Two things felt slightly shy of perfect for me: first, there are a lot of very _adult_ situations/activities/behaviors from these 15yo kids with zero consequences. That didn’t feel entirely realistic. Second, there isn’t really an “end” to the story. I’m more prepared to forgive that, though, since there hasn’t really been an “end” to all the challenges in Deaf culture and communication, either.
The story – in the book and the real world – is still unfolding.
BOOK:30 