This really is a fantastic book and I glad I took the time to read it. being a teenager is hard enough but being a deaf teenager is so much harder. Demi is in a new world trapped ... trapped by her new deafness, where everything she took for granted is gone. After convincing her mum to send her to a deaf school, Demi tries to make new friends and come to terms with all the changes in her life now that she's 'profoundly deaf'.
Having been involved with deaf people and communicating through signing, I felt this book was a great insight into the life of someone who can't hear and how unknowingly we can restrict knowledge and communication from them and cause embarrassment and isolation to them. This is evident when Demi's hearing friends turn their backs to her when talking and how sometimes she only gets portions of the conversation. How would we feel if the things we take for granted are gone forever?
This book was beautifully written and well researched. At times I felt I was in Demi's world and annoyed at the 'hearies' who, sometimes through lack of knowledge, did things to make it so much harder for Demi. I learnt a lot from reading this book and feel I have a greater insight into her world. Demi struggles with relationships from her world before deafness and her new friends. I was scared with her when she was left alone at home.There is also lots of humour in this book and lots of inspiring moments.
This book was beautifully written and well researched. At times I felt I was in Demi's world and annoyed at the 'hearies' who, sometimes through lack of knowledge, did things to make it so much harder for Demi. I learnt a lot from reading this book and feel I have a greater insight into her world. Demi struggles with relationships from her world before deafness and her new friends. I was scared with her when she was left alone at home.There is also lots of humour in this book and lots of inspiring moments.I think this book should be used as a class novel so teenagers can be more knowledgeable about deafness and the challenges it creates. The book also touched on issues about how we rightly or wrongly perceive others.
About the author: Chrissie Keirghery is an Australian author who also publishes under her married name, Chrissie Perry, for younger readers and has written 13 'Go Girl!' titles.'Outside In' is another Young Adult book by Chrissie which I plan to find and read real soon. To listen to an interivew with Richard Stubbs and Chrissie on ABC radio please click on the link below.
Interview with Chrissie
Chrissie Perry website
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