1. How to Do Book Reviews
(& Book Talks)
with Adolescent Literature that
include
Deaf & Hard of Hearing
Characters
Sharon Pajka, Ph.D.
Gallaudet University
http://pajka.blogspot.com

2. Have you ever asked:
• Should all adolescent books that include Deaf &
Hard of Hearing Characters be recommended?
• How do you determine which books are
appropriate for your students?
• Are you willing to criticize an author’s
portrayal of a Deaf Character?
• How do you sell these books to your students?

3. Step 1: Know Your Audience
• Think about your purpose (Book Talk or
Book Review)
• Consider the interests of your students
• Choose a book with broad rather than
narrow appeal
• Select a book at the reading level of
your students

4. Step 2: Consider using Deaf &
Hard of Hearing Characters
When diverse characters are portrayed
realistically and authentically in fiction,
• Children‘s attitudes about race and gender are affected
positively (Campbell & Wirtenberg, 1980; Jetton & Savage-
Davis, 2005).
• Children begin to understand a sense of ‗self‘ (Campbell &
Wirtenberg, 1980; Grice & Vaughn, 1992).
• Children show an increase in enjoyment (Smith, 1995).
• Children who had been identified as low ability students
showed an interest in books with diverse characters.
Researchers discovered that these children‘s reading levels
had been misrepresented as grades lower than the
students could read (Grice & Vaughn, 1992).

5. Research Findings: Are deaf characters
being presented as culturally Deaf or as
pathologically deaf and disabled?
The majority of the hearing authors presented the
cultural perspective model.
• The pathological perspective model was underrepresented in the
books by the hearing authors;
• yet, the majority of deaf authors included the pathological
perspective.
• Reasons why these deaf authors included more
pathological perspective statements while the hearing
authors included more cultural perspective statements:
– 1. lived experience
– 2. fewer deaf characters in books by deaf authors
– 3. fewer ‘D’eaf authors

6. Research Findings: Do these readers
favor deaf authors over hearing ones?
• The Deaf participants along with the participants as
a whole preferred the books written by the hearing
authors
1. as better describing realistic deaf people,
2. for presenting deaf characters adequately and
realistically, and
3. for the authors’ portrayals of deaf characters matching
their own perceptions of deaf people.
– In general, the Deaf participants were more critical of the
deaf authors while the familiar participants, although as a
group preferred the books by the hearing authors, were
more critical of the hearing authors.
• Participants mentioned their preference for a
spectrum of deaf characters.
– The books used in this study that were written by hearing
authors included a variety of characters.

7. Step 3: Understand the difference
between a Book Review & a Book Talk
Book Review= a reaction to a book in which
you note its strengths and weaknesses
– you may or may not recommend reading
this book
Book Talk= a brief ―selling‖ of a book with
the intent to convince someone to read it
– think of it like a movie trailer--start with
an attention-grabber & end with a cliff
hanger

8. Book Review
• Book Analysis
• Characters, Plot, Pt of View, Setting, Style,
Tone, Themes
• Pathological & Cultural Perspectives of
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Characters

9. Comics & Adolescent Literature
Portrayals Comics Adolescent Literature
Deafness Pathological Cultural
Gender Female (participants all Male (participants
male) mostly female)
Race Mostly White Mostly White
Echo- Biracial 1 African-American
1 Asian- American
Language Mostly Oral Most use ASL
Echo- multilingual
Authors Hearing Hearing
Deaf (only a few in
comparison)

10. Step 4 :Book Selection Tips
for a Book Talk
• Choose a book you love
• Never choose a book you haven‘t read
• Select a book that others will enjoy but
one they might not otherwise notice

11. Step 5: Present the Book
• Display the book
• Tell the genre and author details if possible
• Discuss the setting of the book
• Introduce the main character(s) and your
opinions of them
– Deaf & Hard of Hearing
• Briefly discuss the conflict of the book—but
never reveal the resolution; you have to ―hook‖
your readers
• Give your opinion of the book‘s theme
• State why you would recommend this book or to
what audience you would recommend it
• Never book talk a book you wouldn‘t
recommend (for one reason or another)

13. (author interviews & insider tips)

14. Cheshire Moon (1996) by
Nancy Butts
early middle school-- mystical
story)
13-year-old Miranda expects an
unfulfilling summer at her aunt's
house in Maine. The plot turns
mystical when the teens start having
identical dreams about a mysterious
island. If they're only dreams, why
do the teens wake to sand and shells
in their beds?

15. T4 (September2008)
by Ann Clare LeZotte
It is 1939. Paula Becker, thirteen years old and deaf,
lives with her family in a rural German town. As
rumors swirl of disabled children quietly
disappearing, a priest comes to her family's door
with an offer to shield Paula from an uncertain
fate. When the sanctuary he offers is fleeting,
Paula needs to call upon all her strength
to stay one step ahead of the Nazis.
*Told in Verse (112 pages)
Reading Level: 4th grade
Character communicates through Sign Language


16. Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller
(2007) by Sarah Miller
Pub. Date: July 28, 2007
Age Range: 10 to 12
Hardcover: 240pp
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's
Publishing
This book offers an alternative approach to
the story of Helen Keller. Readers experience
the life of Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller
through journals written by Annie Sullivan.
Readers learn about Sullivan's abusive father,
her relationship with her "invalid" brother, and
her experiences teaching Helen Keller.

17. Books for Younger Adolescents
Nobody's Perfect (2006)
By Marlee Matlin & Doug Cooney
 Megan is thrown when a new girl, Alexis, ignores
her gestures of friendship. Alexis is pretty, smart,
and a great soccer player, but she seems intent
on ignoring Megan. Alexis behaves strangely
around people with disabilities which is related to
her having an autistic brother. Megan, whose
family and friends accept her deafness as part of
their everyday lives, is shocked by this.

 Other Books in the Series

18. Nobody's Perfect (2006)
By Marlee Matlin & Doug Cooney
Made into a Bilingual Musical
(View Website)
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/nobodysperfect/
Tami Lee Santimyer
with Marlee Matlin

19. Singing Hands (2006) by Delia Ray
Gussie Davis is the hearing daughter
of deaf parents in 1948. She is a
rebellious teen who sings out loud
during the church for the deaf where her
father ministers. Gussie becomes involved in
missionary efforts at a black deaf church and
with the Alabama School for the Deaf.

20. Singing Hands (2006) by Delia Ray
based on the author’s
family...
her grandfather was a
Deaf preacher and a
leading pioneer in the
Deaf community.

21. New Books for Teens
featuring a ‘signing’ animal
Hurt Go Happy (2006)
By Ginny Rorby
Though she’s been deaf since the age of six,
Joey’s mother has never allowed her to
learn sign language. She strains to read
the lips of those around her, but often fails.
Everything changes when Joey meets Dr.
Charles Mansell. She secretly learns sign
language and her life has never been
happier.

22. Read My Lips (June 2008) by Teri Brown
Sarcastic, skater chick Serena moves to a new school
and mixes with the über popular crowd when they
discover her special talent for reading lips. They feel
that they have a new secret weapon to snoop out all
the gossip in the school.
Reading Level: Teen
Mainstreamed & Empowered

23. Northlander (Tales of the Borderlands)
(2007) by Meg Burden
Reading Age: 12 and older
Ellin is a young girl with distinctive hair
that indicates that she is clearly from
the Southlands. When she goes to
assist her father in healing the
Northland king, she faces prejudice.
While there, she meets members of
the king's family, the princes of the
Northlands including Finn

24. Wait for Me by An Na
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Puffin Reprint Edition (September 6, 2007)
Mina appears to be the perfect daughter. She is bound
for Harvard, president of the honor society, a straight
A student, helps out at her family's dry cleaning
company and takes care of her young sister, Suna
(since their mother isn't such a nurturer). During the
summer before her senior year in high school, Mina
appears to be responsible. She has conjured up so many
lies that lead her mother into believing in Mina's
fabricated life. In reality, a family "friend", using that
term lightly, has taught her about stealing from the
family's business. Mina's perfection turns out to be a life
of lies.
 The character, Suna, is "hearing-impaired" and uses
hearing aids.

25. Feathers (2007) by Jacqueline Woodson
When a new student arrives at her
school, Frannie’s classmates tell the
boy that he doesn’t belong on their side
of the highway and that he needs to go to
the white side… but the boy says that he
isn’t white?!?!When her classmates bully
him and mock sign language (since the
new boy has yet to respond), the boy
uses sign language to say “No, I’m not
deaf” (p.14) ?!?!
Deaf character Sean is funny and smart…
he is also the FIRST African-American
Deaf character who uses Sign Language

26. Deaf Characters in Comics
Echo (Daredevil & New Avengers)
David Mack’s character Maya Lopez, also
known as Echo and Ronin, debuted in
Daredevil as a love interest for Matt
Murdock. This character now appears in
the arc of the most recent issues of The
New Avengers.
(Biracial, Multilingual, Empowered)

27. RALLY CAPS (2007) by J.
Cutler Stephen and Cutler Del
Dottore Jodi
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 87 pages
Publisher: PublishAmerica
(2007)
 A story about two boys
who love baseball and who
become friends through
their experiences at
summer camp. One of the
main characters is deaf
and uses a cochlear
implant.

28. Resources highlighting children’s/adolescent books
with Deaf & Hard of Hearing Characters
Check out my Blog!
*Includes over 199 titles
*Author & Professionals Interviews
*Websites & Articles
*Free Newsletter
http://pajka.blogspot.com/