Those of you who’ve read the blurb for FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB might know that it’s narrated by a deaf high school senior named Piper, who aspires to attend Gallaudet University, an excellent liberal arts college in Washington, DC. (Gallaudet is the finest college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the world.) Well, it just so happens that if Piper ever makes it, one of her instructors will be Professor Sharon Pajka, who writes a blog called “Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature.”
And guess what: Sharon’s blogging about Piper . . . already!
I’m been an avid reader of Sharon’s blog ever since I started working on DUMB. One of things I hear a lot is: “Oh, good, you’re writing a book with a deaf character. There aren’t many of those.” But actually, that’s not true at all, something Sharon’s blog makes abundantly clear. Sure, not all the deaf characters she writes about actually NARRATE the book, but there are plenty of really great books out there that feature a deaf character prominently.
And to prove my point, here are two books that everyone should check out (yes, right now!):
THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN by Josh Berk (Knopf, 2010) tells the hilarious story of Will Halpin, an overweight deaf teen who spends his first year at a mainstream high school looking for love, failing Algebra, unraveling the school’s social scene, trying to get invited to the greatest party ever … and, oh yeah, solving a murder. Seriously, folks, this book is riotously funny, and you’ll read it in a single sitting. Trust me.
MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR by Steve Kluger (Dial, 2008). The subtitle is “A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park.” It is all those things, and so much more. This is a simply beautiful book. I dream of being able to write like Steve Kluger.
