True Biz

A Novel

By: Sara Novic

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Kaleo Griffith

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • A “tender, beautiful and radiantly outraged” (The New York Times Book Review) novel that follows a year of seismic romantic, political, and familial shifts for a teacher and her students at a boarding school for the deaf, from the acclaimed author of Girl at War

“For those who loved the Oscar-winning film CODA, a boarding school for deaf students is the setting for a kaleidoscope of experiences.”—The Washington Post

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Booklist

True biz (adj./exclamation; American Sign Language): really, seriously, definitely, real-talk

True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the hearing headmistress, a CODA (child of deaf adult(s)) who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another—and changed forever.

This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.

©2022 Sara Novic (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Part tender coming-of-age story, part electrifying tale of political awakening, part heartfelt love letter to Deaf culture, True Biz is wholly a wonder.”—Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere

“Sara Novic is one of the best writers of my generation—not just the novelist of Deaf culture, but of human nature writ large. Do yourself a favor and get this book—it is inimitable.”—Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa

“A coming-of-age story that explores the complexities of community and the ways in which language defines us.”—Kirkus Reviews

A good story with added features both intriguing and informational

I really appreciated the way the author and contributors to this audible version of the book utilized the print version’s access to a visual language and gave it a component that let us know- as listeners- that we were not getting the whole story because we were not seeing the beauty and totality of the visual language.

I have worked alongside the Deaf community for more than three decades and I’m still heartbroken about many of the issues brought forward in this story. I hope it compels readers to learn more about ASL and Deaf culture. The final notes on all the Schools for the Deaf that have closed tore at my heart. I fervently hope that we do not lose all residential schools for the Deaf as they are such a critical part of the care and keeping of this cherished culture.

I wish there was more info on BlackASL, but it’s a start.

I enjoyed the author’s delineations of the various roles and backgrounds people have within the Deaf community. It is critical that folks don’t assume “Deaf” is a monolith; like any culture, the members are not homogenous.

An amazing book

This was a great introduction to deaf culture for me. I especially loved the history woven throughout the book.

Excellent!!

Incredible story, highly informative, beautifully read. I had very little knowledge about the deaf community before listening to this book, and now I am interested to know more. I highly recommend it!

Great Read

True to the community and culture of the very people whose language I borrow and use daily to educate younger members of this same community.

An interesting experience

I started to read this book with my eyes and struggled to understand what was going on based on the author's choice to not use quotation marks. Normally if I'm struggling to follow along in a book, I give up and move on. On second thought, it occurred to me that this had to be the authors intent to challenge her readers to put themselves of the shoes of the characters who have undoubtedly struggled to keep up in a world that was not designed to accommodate them. Since I had agreed this read this for a book club and the deadline was approaching, I had to think fast and went to Audible.

Immediately, I found myself enraptured by the characters, the pieces about Deaf History, the lessons in ASL, and was completely invested in the story, needing to seeing how the storylines intertwined.

All of this to say, I'm glad I stuck with it and will most likely go back again to the physical book. How lucky are we as hearing people to have audiobooks to support our understanding when our learning style requires another way of taking in information!? Definitely not taking that for granted ever again...

Enjoyable Read

I loved reading about Deaf culture and the short bit of history that was provided in this book. It was interesting to hear the perspective of Deaf schools, rather than mainstreaming all students. The characters were fun, but something about the plot didn’t keep me as engaged as I was hoping for. I felt like the plot wasn’t fast moving until the end, where all the action seemed to take place. I recommend this for the Deaf culture, but not so much for the story itself.

Not for Audio

I almost exclusively read via audiobooks, I read across several genre and love complicated timelines and creates written plots ,so this was a first for me…I couldn’t follow along on audiobook. The transitions from characters were ok, following dialogue was difficult and transition to end of chapter textbook style resources was confusing. This book is amazing and some of the most important learning I’ve experienced in awhile, I ran out and bought the book at my local indy bookstore and am blazing through it!

Thought Provoking

A good story that visits families with not typical children, education, implanted devices, pros and cons. Language and culture, preserve or mainstream. so many topics touched up on with out preaching. Definitely worth a listen.

Excellent story, excellent narration

I truly enjoyed this book from start to finish. I loved the added “lessons” between chapters, which I found to be very informative and a great addition to the story itself. As a hearing person, I experienced plenty of educational moments throughout this novel. I will definitely be looking for more to read from Sara Novic!

A wonderful story + important education

This beautifully written and narrated story stands on its own, but what I appreciated most was the glimpse into what it means to be deaf in this country. As a hearing person, I had no idea what "deaf culture" meant or how important it is, and how viciously it has been (and is being) threatened. Some of that's out of ignorance, but a great deal of it is out of arrogance--a belief that to be deaf is to be less than. In that respect, attacks on deaf culture resemble attacks on other minorities.

This book can help with the ignorance and turn readers into allies who can help defend and support deaf culture.

Please read it.