deaf not Deaf

by Christian Fusco, Kostis Pavlou (Illustrator)

Rian is starting her sixth grade year in a new home and at a new school in Northeast Philadelphia. On her first day, she is greeted by Shack, the class bully, who wastes no time breaking one of her cochlear implants. She’s used to feeling like an outsider, but nothing could prepare her for life at John Hancock Elementary. Her teachers can’t pronounce her name, the “normal” kids think she’s Deaf and the Deaf kids think she’s a joke, especially Luis Rodriguez, a Deaf boy who uses American Sign Language to communicate with his small circle of family and friends.

deaf not Deaf is a story about an unlikely friendship between Rian and Luis, two sixth graders who understand deafness in very different ways. Drawn together by a common enemy, Rian, Luis and their small group of misfit friends hatch a ghoulish plan to get revenge on Shack once and for all…but will their idea be an epic success or will playing with the supernatural come back to haunt them in the end?


“Fusco’s fast-moving and engaging story of the experiences of children with different types of hearing loss in an urban public school classroom rings true to the significant challenges faced by this population of children. Like in the story WONDER, deaf not Deaf addresses the pervasive misunderstanding of hearing loss and the teasing and bullying children often endure. The issues of Deaf Culture are skillfully woven throughout the story. The overarching issue in this story focuses on the fact that communication in all forms is important and should be valued. Unexpected twists in the story bring the students together in friendship and understanding. This is a must read book for middle grade students.”

Dr. Diane Heller Klein
Professor Emeritus Deaf Education

Genres: Young Adult

237 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2021

Reviews

[teagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normally, when a book is written in 3rd person, I wouldn’t dare go near it. However, this book was written in a way that it made me forgot that it was in 3rd person. The genre shift towards the end of the book caught me off guard but it was definitely entertaining. I still can’t believe that everything that happened occurred to Year 6’s but I guess it’s a part of their story. As a deaf person myself, I understood was Rian was going through throughout the book and I related to her.

[Tess (Book_Voyage) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good! It was a true hidden gem. I am happy that I was able to borrow it from one of my coworkers. I’ve always wanted to learn ASL, which is what drew me to this book. However, I was not expecting it to be a bit of a ghost story! I truly enjoyed hearing both Luis and Rian’s point of views. I couldn’t put this book down once I started it. It also made me so happy to see Philadelphia being represented in a book! I loved it!

[Kathleen Groff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great YA read! It was a wonderful introduction to the Deaf and hard of hearing world for me, and an interesting read to boot. I was invested in these kids and how their experiences would play out. I’m a middle school ELA teacher and I’m definitely recommending this to my students.

[Bridget Ferris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book it was cute and loved reading about Deaf culture but the ending kind of through me off.

[Meaghan Arundell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked aspects of this book and felt it had potential, but it was published well before it was ready. There are typos and grammatical errors. But harder to take was the lack of consistency with character point of view. I would be reading a chapter from one character's viewpoint, and suddenly would be told information about another character's thoughts, feelings or backstory that the viewpoint character had no way of knowing. This happened a lot.
I was still willing to persevere because it's always good to see representation of different deaf identities, and I thought the story was leading up to a good message about managing difficult social situations and bullying. But then, in the last couple of chapters, a complete nonsense supernatural resolution came out of nowhere. It made absolutely no sense, and avoided making what could otherwise have been a good message.
With some more thorough re writing and editing, this could have been a good book.

[Gina Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the Deaf culture aspect and a girl navigating what it is to be deaf vs Deaf. The end of the book seemed to throw away everything the rest of the book was building which was disappointing. I wasn’t ready for the genre switch and didn’t see it coming but that may be a reason someone else might enjoy it. To each their own, right? I also am very aware that I’m not the target audience being a full grown adult, so there’s that to take into consideration.

[_bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

The deaf and Deaf representation opened my eyes as a hearing person. This book showed how all kids act. Whatever each person’s issues were they demonstrated all acts of kindness or meanness.
I feel the overreaching plot was kind of dumb, but the lessons throughout this book.
I’m still confused whether Timothy Rollins at the end of the book a spirit or an older alive human boy? Glad revenge was put against Gery Shack.

[Taylor Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool book exploring Deaf culture and seeing deaf characters. A story most anyone could relate to concerning standing up to school bullies. A wild twist at the end that changed the whole story for me is the only reason I didn’t give 5 stars. It was kind of wild and outlandish and just didn’t seem to fit the whole story, but it kept me entertained for the last 20 pages.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful novel that follows diverse characters who find common ground and friendship. Adventure, humor, and real life struggles of children learning who they want to be in life unfold in this book. A great read!

[shannon johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Reading this book was for an ASL class assignment, and I really enjoyed it. The characters and storyline are written perfectly. And I love the little surprise at the end. Not gonna spoil anything, but definitely give this book a read.

[Kim Kellar-Lewis]

I enjoyed the book and learned a great deal about the Deaf community. I felt the end was a little corny for the rest of the book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not prepared for the genre shift.
I struggled to read the first half and the second half had a wild genre shift.

[Regina Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the Deaf Culture content, the haunting part simply wasn't for me. I understand it was part of the folklore, but still not my cup of tea.

[Mdonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

deaf not Deaf is an amazing read for people of all ages to enjoy! The book is targeted towards middle schoolers, but the fast pace and complex characters make it entertaining for everyone!

The book is about Rian, a sixth grade student with a hearing loss who just moved to a new school in Philadelphia. Rian has cochlear implants and doesn’t see herself as “deaf.” However, everyone at her school sees her as deaf except for the three boys with a hearing loss in her class. These boys are part of the Deaf community and do not see her as one of them, because they use sign language while she relies on cochlear implants. While Rian struggles to fit in at first, she teams up with the three Deaf boys and they embark on a quest to stop their common bully once and for all.

deaf not Deaf is an insightful book and great for if you are interested in learning more about Deaf culture and different experiences of people with hearing loss, especially teenagers. It’s also a fun read with an intriguing storyline and lots of mystery! The characters are very thoroughly developed and have great interactions between each other. The way the author writes people signing is very creative and helpful to understand ASL structure. The book has ASL elements weaved through it, with each chapter title being in English and having the finger spellings in ASL underneath it.

There is a website, https://www.deafnotdeaf.net/ that has a link to the deafnotDeaf YouTube page with video demonstrations of each of the signs the characters use in the books as well as other information about ASL.

This book is very informational but it’s also so fun to read! I definitely recommend it to people of all ages!