Mother Tongue: A Memoir of Family, Deafness and Identity

In this emotionally rich first memoir, the New York Times bestselling author of True Biz retraces her path out of the hearing world and into the deaf community - and seeks to understand the journeys her own children must take. Sara Novic's early years were filled with music, Bible study, and a strong desire to fit in.But when she failed her school's mandated hearing test, her worldview was thrown into chaos.Desperate not to be marked as different, she told no one, staying in the hearing world for as long as she could by brute force. Eventually unable to ignore the fact that she was deaf, Novic sought out other deaf people and was welcomed into a tight-knit community rooted in the beauty and joy of American Sign Language.Novic realized that rather than maintaining the facade of her old life or trying to straddle two worlds, she would need to cultivate a life in the space between. Now the mother of two young sons - one, biological and hearing, the other, adopted and deaf-Novic reflects o