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[CCBC-Net] Disabilities - Blindness, in particular
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From: Ching, Edie <Edie_Ching>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:07:45 -0400
I second the good words about this book, funny, serious, and just a good read. Edie Ching, St. Albans School
-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu [mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of Robin Smith Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 11:23 AM To: Melissa Henderson; ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] Disabilities - Blindness, in particular
Yes, here is a book with deaf and hearing characters--my review follows. I just loved this book Robin
Singing Hands By Delia Ray Clarion Books ISBN 0618657622 Ages 10-14
I have always been fascinated with American Sign Language. There is something beautiful and graceful about the emotion in the hands and the matching expressive faces. But, what would it be like to have deaf parents and hearing siblings? What would it be like to live as a hearing person in a deaf world?
Delia Ray, who brought us the moving Ghost Girl last year, turns her narrative gifts to bring us the story of Gussie Davis, the hearing daughter of deaf parents. And Ray, whose mother was raised by deaf parents, has given a lot of thought to this special kind of life.
Gussie is the middle daughter, a preacher's kid, growing up in Birmingham in 1948. She wants to be a godly girl, as her father and mother think she is, but Gussie just can't pull it off. Whether she secretly hums during the church service, jealously notices every unfair advantage her perfect older sister Margaret holds over her, or is angry when her father takes on more and more responsibilities as missionary to deaf communities all over the South, Gussie has a hard time doing the right thing. She begrudges all the demands made on her father's time, and now he is taking on more and more work, even with the Black deaf folks in Alabama and Mississippi.
While this might seem like a book only about being raised by deaf parents, Ray's story goes much deeper than that. Gussie's angst is raw and honest. She is horrified by some of her lies and behavior, but seems unable to stop herself from making mistake after mistake. And when her father, the Reverend Davis, decides that the reason she has been humming sacrilegious tunes in church is that she really wants to worship God with hearing people, Gussie has no choice but to go along with her na?ve father. She puts on her church clothes, picks up her offering money, takes the hand of younger sister Nell, and takes the streetcar to the uppity downtown church.
It is a rare story where all the characters are richly drawn and complicated. The three sisters have real emotions, including deep sibling rivalry for the love of their beloved, but often absent, father. Mrs. Davis works nonstop to keep the church running smoothly and the boarding house clean and her daughters in line. Even the boarders have complicated lives. There is also much rich back matter: Birmingham in the 1940s is a city of Jim Crow and sharply divided social classes; deaf people are objects of fascination and not considered full citizens; and to be Black and deaf is more than most people can overcome. This is also the time of debate in deaf education: can deaf people ever fully integrate into the hearing world if they communicate mainly with sign language? This is the time where children were punished for using their hands and rewarded for lip reading and learning to vocalize.
On so many levels, Delia Ray's story is an honest yet humorous look at a complicated time. Gussie and her sisters will stay with me for a long time, and my admiration for sign language has only grown. A winner.
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Received on Tue 10 Oct 2006 11:07:45 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:07:45 -0400
I second the good words about this book, funny, serious, and just a good read. Edie Ching, St. Albans School
-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu [mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of Robin Smith Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 11:23 AM To: Melissa Henderson; ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] Disabilities - Blindness, in particular
Yes, here is a book with deaf and hearing characters--my review follows. I just loved this book Robin
Singing Hands By Delia Ray Clarion Books ISBN 0618657622 Ages 10-14
I have always been fascinated with American Sign Language. There is something beautiful and graceful about the emotion in the hands and the matching expressive faces. But, what would it be like to have deaf parents and hearing siblings? What would it be like to live as a hearing person in a deaf world?
Delia Ray, who brought us the moving Ghost Girl last year, turns her narrative gifts to bring us the story of Gussie Davis, the hearing daughter of deaf parents. And Ray, whose mother was raised by deaf parents, has given a lot of thought to this special kind of life.
Gussie is the middle daughter, a preacher's kid, growing up in Birmingham in 1948. She wants to be a godly girl, as her father and mother think she is, but Gussie just can't pull it off. Whether she secretly hums during the church service, jealously notices every unfair advantage her perfect older sister Margaret holds over her, or is angry when her father takes on more and more responsibilities as missionary to deaf communities all over the South, Gussie has a hard time doing the right thing. She begrudges all the demands made on her father's time, and now he is taking on more and more work, even with the Black deaf folks in Alabama and Mississippi.
While this might seem like a book only about being raised by deaf parents, Ray's story goes much deeper than that. Gussie's angst is raw and honest. She is horrified by some of her lies and behavior, but seems unable to stop herself from making mistake after mistake. And when her father, the Reverend Davis, decides that the reason she has been humming sacrilegious tunes in church is that she really wants to worship God with hearing people, Gussie has no choice but to go along with her na?ve father. She puts on her church clothes, picks up her offering money, takes the hand of younger sister Nell, and takes the streetcar to the uppity downtown church.
It is a rare story where all the characters are richly drawn and complicated. The three sisters have real emotions, including deep sibling rivalry for the love of their beloved, but often absent, father. Mrs. Davis works nonstop to keep the church running smoothly and the boarding house clean and her daughters in line. Even the boarders have complicated lives. There is also much rich back matter: Birmingham in the 1940s is a city of Jim Crow and sharply divided social classes; deaf people are objects of fascination and not considered full citizens; and to be Black and deaf is more than most people can overcome. This is also the time of debate in deaf education: can deaf people ever fully integrate into the hearing world if they communicate mainly with sign language? This is the time where children were punished for using their hands and rewarded for lip reading and learning to vocalize.
On so many levels, Delia Ray's story is an honest yet humorous look at a complicated time. Gussie and her sisters will stay with me for a long time, and my admiration for sign language has only grown. A winner.
_______________________________________________ CCBC-Net mailing list CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
Received on Tue 10 Oct 2006 11:07:45 AM CDT
