True Biz was the #chronicallyiconicbookclub’s September read. This book features multiple characters who are deaf.

True Biz shares the stories of students at a boarding school for the deaf, their teachers, and their parents. Charlie and Austin just want to be teenagers but everyone has something to say about how they should live their lives as deaf people. A series of political and personal events will test them and culminate in a confrontation with their headmistress where they’ll have to make a choice.

I enjoyed this book but didn’t love it. The book is told from more than 2 viewpoints which sometimes works for me and sometimes doesn’t. It didn’t really work for me in this book. I especially dislike when an author throws in one chapter, just one, from the perspective of a side character. There’s only been one book I can think of where I feel like that one-off chapter worked. All of that aside, I learned so much about deaf culture! The bits of history and illustrations of ASL the author included between chapters were brilliant and so interesting. Even though I had issues with this book, I’d still recommend it because I think what you’ll take away from it about the deaf community is so important. This book is a great example of why reading books with disability and chronic illness rep is so essential.