True Biz

February Waters is the headmistress of the River Valley School for the Deaf in Ohio. As the child of deaf parents, or CODA, she has skills and experience both within Deaf culture and the hearing world. River Valley is the only Deaf school in three states. It is both a resident and a day school.

Charlie Serrano, age 15, had implants as a kid. Doctors told her parents not to teach her American Sign Language but make her rely on the technology. Now, after her parents' divorce, she will be going to a Deaf school for the first time. It will be the first time for her meeting someone else deaf.

Austin Workman is fifth generations Deaf. His family is legend. And every person between the extremes of Charlie and Austin is represented at the school.

Nović has written an important book, one that has been missing from YA literature. It is heartbreaking, funny, and full of information – including Waters’ lesson plans between chapter with history and how to sign, or other information on Deaf culture. Read this book today.

Nović, Sara. (2022). True Biz. New York: Random House.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot #2)

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers is second in the Monk and Robot series of novellas. This is a beautiful series everyone should read.

Sibling Dex and Splendid Speckled Mosscap begin their journey among the humans of Panga, traveling to many villages so that Mosscap can ask people what they need from Robots. They will make many friends as they travel looking for answers.

Becky Chambers is my favorite author. I have loved each of her books, but the Monk & Robot series is something extra special. Buy the books today – you will want to read them repeatedly!

Chambers, Becky (2022). A Prayer for the Crown-Shy. New York: Tom Doherty Associates Book.

Passing

Passing is a classic novel of a light skinned Black woman in the 1920s passing for white. Clare Kendry married a white man and no one in her life knows/realizes she is Black.

A chance encounter with a childhood friend, Irene Redfield, in a Manhattan restaurant brings feeling of nostalgia for childhood and the African American community.

After the first encounter, Clare keeps visiting Irene – each time risking someone finding out about her passing.

Larsen, Nella. (1929). Passing. New York: Penguin (2021 edition).

Rules of Civility

Set in the upper levels of Manhattan society from the years 1937 – 1940, Rules of Civility follow three friends from a change meeting at a jazz club.

Tinker Grey lives in the world of the wealthy. He is a banker who seems not to spend much time at work.

Kate Kontent grew up in Brighton Beach. She now has a roommate from the Midwest, Evelyn Ross. They stretch each dollar to have the best time they can in Manhattan – and it seems to have paid off when they meet Tinker.

Towles has written a period set story filled with beautiful sentences and a glimpse of the upper, upper crust of the time. Gatsby fans will love this book.

Towles, Amor. (2011). Rules of Civility. New York: Penguin.

A Thin Bright Line

Lucybelle grew up on a farm in Arkansas. She left when she went to college in New York in the mid-1950s, where she lived in the Village. When her partner surprises her with the information that she is getting married to a man (a man who knows about them) Lucybelle agrees to a job in Chicago.

Working at the Geological Society of America as an assistant editor, she is recruited to work at the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment (SPIRE) as the head editor. Their goal is to drill into the ice in Greenland to find out about the global climate – a radical idea at the time.

Her new boss knows about Lucybelle’s leanings (i,e. lesbianism) and uses it both to give her some freedom and to threaten her with exposure if she does not stay in line – somehow still an improvement over what she is leaving.

Bledsoe has written this book about her own aunt. It is a true story of a woman she grew up wondering about and was surprised to find a lot of information on as one of the first women working in this field of science. This is a look at a lesbian in the 1950s living during the Civil Right Movement. Read this book!

Bledsoe, Lucy Jane. (2016). A Thin Bright Line. Madison: The University of Wisconsin.