True Biz
Written by Sara Novic
Originally published in 2022
~380 pages
Rate: 3/5
I picked this book up while at a local book store and took a picture of the blurb and asked my friend, Margaret, if she wanted to read it together. She agreed and we got two more friends, Kaigan and Kenzie, to join our little book club. This is the first time I've been apart of a book club aside from the one time I read The 5th Wave with my mom. We plan on meeting at the beginning of every month to discuss the book and choose a new one. We haven't had the chance to discuss this book yet. I might figure out a way to add some notes from the meeting if it seems interesting enough. Anyways...
True Biz is a multiple perspective book about students, faculty, and parents connected to River Valley School for the Deaf.
I wanted to read this book because I saw it was apart of Reese's Book Club. This is the first book I have ever read about the Deaf community. It was nice to be able to catch a glimpse of a new perspective on life by reading all of these unique stories. I read the first few sentences and thought it would be pretty good.
I enjoyed the multiple point of views and the depth of certain characters and their struggles, however, some of the characters were pretty unlikable in my opinion. Charlie was an interesting character to read about, however, her romantic endeavors were odd. Austin's character and family life was very fascinating. February seemed pretty good at first, but her choices were appalling. So there was really only one character that I enjoyed reading about.
Overall, the plot of the story felt realistic. It was eye-opening to see different ways some people in the Deaf community experience life and the challenges that come with it. Having some infographics placed throughout the story was nice and helpful. I enjoyed the new perspective and the majority of the story that Sara Novic brought to life.
"Teenagers got a bad rap, she thought, because people didn't understand why they were so volatile. The problem, February had decided, was a simple lack of language. The vocabulary and logic that had served them in childhood were inadequate in the face of new and much more complex challenges and emotions" (114).
"What a cruel disease, she thought, to steal from a person all their best moments, and make them relive the worst ones nightly. To force their loved ones to deliver these blows of memory until they, too, were subsumed by the echoing grief" (179).
"Previously, she'd believed her relationship with her mother to be a great injustice, but lately she'd been thinking that the truly unfair thing was the expectation that a mother should completely understand another human just because she'd given birth to them. Charlie was constantly letting her father off the hook for being clueless" (204).