Special Collections

Leading Ladies

Megan's fourth-grade class is putting on their own original musical based on the book The Wizard of Oz, and Megan wants to be the star of the show and play Dorothy. Since she's deaf, she will sign the songs for her audition. However, a problem develops when Lizzie, her best friend from camp, transfers from her all-deaf school to Megan's class - and signs the same two songs that Megan was going to do! Luckily, Megan has some other ideas up her sleeve...

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Millionaire Dad

Nick Regan-Phillips: a millionaire, whom the world assumes has it all...but he's got a secret that he's kept from the world-he's a single dad. Nick's daughter, Rosie, is deaf. Nick missed the first five years of Rosie's life, but now she's come to live with him he's struggling to communicate with her....

Lydia Stanford: beautiful, courageous, award-^nnning journalist. And seemingly the only person who can help Nick forge a bond with his daughter..."But when their fragile relationship is tested, will , Lydia realize how much this millionaire dad really means to her-and needs her-before it is too late?

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Right to Remain Silent

Connor Westphal is drawn into another mystery in Flat Skunk when the local historian dies, is resurrected, and dies again! Hot on the story of this unexpected event, Connor stumbles across the murdered woman's son, a deaf man who has been misdiagnosed for years. Working to clear his name for his mother's murder turns out to be more than she bargains for. Staying one step ahead of the killer, locating a missing will, and getting out her weekly paper are all just part of a day's work for amateur sleuth Connor Westphal in the third book of this popular series by Penny Warner.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

The Orange Houses

Tamika Sykes, AKA Mik, is hearing impaired and way too smart for her West Bronx high school. She copes by reading lips and selling homework answers, and looks forward to the time each day when she can be alone in her room drawing. She's a tough girl who mostly keeps to herself and can shut anyone out with the click of her hearing aid. But then she meets Fatima, a teenage refugee who sells newspapers, and Jimmi, a homeless vet who is shunned by the rest of the community, and her life takes an unexpected turn.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

On the Fence

Although Drolsbaugh is listed as author, he is actually the editor of writings by 37 individuals. They label themselves hard of hearing or hearing impaired. This is a very different population than the culturally deaf, signing community. Authors found their community in Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH), later renamed as HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America). A bio of the authors is included at the end. They vary from childhood age to the elderly.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Kicking Up Dirt

At nineteen, Ashley Fiolek is already the top female competitor in a tough men's sport: motocross, a form of off-road motorcycle racing that is one of the most competitive and dangerous extreme sports in the world. Since going pro in late 2007, Fiolek has taken gold at the X Games, won the American Women's Motocross Championship twice, and become the first woman in American motocross history to be signed to a factory team—the highest echelon of industry backing. But Fiolek's rise has not come without obstacles. Fiolek was born profoundly deaf, a handicap that makes everyday life difficult—and competition on the track downright dangerous. Originally misdiagnosed as "mildly retarded," she was a painfully shy and introverted child—until her parents introduced her to the world of dirt bikes, which helped her escape the silence in her head and connect with others who shared her passion. She began racing at seven, and as her successes grew through hard work and no small number of broken bones, so did her confidence.Fiolek has never believed her disability should stand in the way of her dreams. Nor has she allowed her gender to limit her career—motocross historically has been a men's sport, but with the love and support of her dirt-obsessed family, including her "Grandpa Motorcycle," her little brother, Kicker, and her dogs, Turbo and Rocco, Ashley has emerged as one of the sport's most talked-about stars, changing the way the entire industry views women. Armed with her extraordinary talent, contagious grin, and deep faith in God, Fiolek continues to venture into unknown territory, relentlessly pushing herself—and women's motocross—to ever-greater heights.Kicking Up Dirt is a remarkable, inspiring tale of a young woman's courage and determination to succeed in the face of truly challenging obstacles.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

The Linguistics of British Sign Language

This is the first detailed explanation of the way British Sign Language works and is the product of many years' experience of research and teaching sign linguistics to deaf and hearing people. It assumes no previous knowledge of linguistics or sign language, and is not structured around traditional headings such as phonology, morphology and syntax. Instead it is set out in such a way as to help learners and their teachers understand the linguistic principles behind the language. There are sections on BSL grammar and also on the use of BSL, including social acceptability in signing, variation, and poetry and humour in BSL.

Technical terms and linguistic jargon are kept to a minimum, and the text contains many examples from English, BSL, and other spoken and sign languages. The book is amply illustrated and contains exercises, as well as a reading list for further study.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Sociolinguistics and Deaf Communities

How do people use sign languages in different situations around the world? How are sign languages distributed globally? What happens when they come in contact with spoken and written languages? These and other questions are explored in this new introduction to the sociolinguistics of sign languages and deaf communities. An international team brings insights and data from a wide range of sign languages, from the USA, Canada, England, Spain, Brazil and Australia. Topics covered include multilingualism in the global deaf community, sociolinguistic variation and change in sign languages, bilingualism and language contact between signed and spoken languages, attitudes towards sign languages, sign language planning and policy, and sign language discourse. Sociolinguistics and Deaf Communities will be welcomed by students of sign language and interpreting, teachers of sign language, and students and academics working in linguistics.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Nobody's Perfect

"She's practically perfect," Megan said thoughtfully. She repeated the new girl's name, practicing the way Ms. Endee had written it on the whiteboard. Alexis Powell. Megan has spent forever planning her positively purple birthday sleepover. She's even made glittery purple invitations for every girl in her class. Then a new girl, Alexis, joins their class. Alexis seems perfect: She's smart, pretty, and rules the soccer games on the playground. But no matter how hard Megan tries to be a friend to Alexis, the new girl is aloof or rude. At first, Megan thinks Alexis is shy. Then Megan starts to fear that Alexis is treating her differently because she's deaf. When the girls are forced to collaborate on a science fair project, Megan learns the truth -- and realizes that nobody's perfect. Once again Marlee Matlin draws on experiences from her own childhood to tell Megan's story. In this funny, poignant book, readers will root for Megan, a spirited young girl who doesn't let anything stand in her way.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

In This Sign

Janice and Abel are a deaf couple. Their daughter can hear, and becomes their interpreter from a very early age. The parents are ashamed of their sign language and won't sign in public, only at the deaf club or with deaf friends. The daughter is interpreting phone calls, medical and banking appointments, legal and other situations long before she understands them. This is a historical novel, of a deaf world that no longer exists, but is accurate for its time.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

I Danced

Weber presents a readable yet comprehensive look at cochlear implants and shares her own story:
why did she choose to hear?
how did she cope?
what were the frustrations with implants?

The book includes some technical information and lists of resources for those with hearing disabilities.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Five Flavors of Dumb

The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Longshot

Lance Allred was probably the last person you'd expect to make it in professional sports. Not only did he grow up on a polygamist commune in Montana, he struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder. If those hurdles to the NBA don't seem large enough, Lance is also deaf.

Self-deprecating, witty, and wholly original, Longshot is the unlikely story of an unlikely athlete, who despite these factors and a lot of setbacks along the way, finally realized his dream of playing in the NBA, becoming the first legally deaf player in the league.

Lance refused to let others' expectations hinder his dreams, and his refreshing sense of humor about his disability allowed him to face these setbacks without giving up. From his childhood on the commune where he was "Mormon royalty" (his grandfather was prophet Rulon Allred of the fundamentalist sect) to his first time picking up a basketball (eighth grade), to his clumsy efforts to build his skills while growing into his 6' 11" frame, Longshot is a riveting account of a young man finding his purpose and letting the love of the game drive him toward his ultimate goal.

Going inside the competitive world of collegiate basketball and the strange experience of playing professionally in Europe, with paychecks that never arrive and a knee injury Lance's team didn't want to cover, Longshot recounts the moment when Lance hit rock bottom. When he came back to the United States for surgery, Lance was prepared to let go of his basketball dreams and become a high school history teacher like his dad.

But luckily he had an agent who didn't want to see Lance's dream die, and who found him a deal with the Idaho Stampede, an NBA Development League team in Boise. Although it was paltry pay, it was the last resort. And Lance slowly began to be noticed.

Revealing the resilient heart of a young man who truly believes that it's not about failure or success but about being willing to try, Longshot is a Rudy story for a new generation, a tale of inspiration, dedication, and the power of a dream.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Alandra's Lilacs

When, in 1968, 19-year-old Tressa Bowers took her baby daughter to an expert on deaf children, he pronounced that Alandra was "stone deaf," she most likely would never be able to talk, and she probably would not get much of an education because of her communication limitations. Tressa refused to accept this stark assessment of Alandra's prospects. Instead, she began the arduous process of starting her daughter's education. Economic need forced Tressa to move several times, and as a result, she and Alandra experienced a variety of learning environments: a pure oralist approach, which discouraged signing; Total Communication, in which the teachers spoke and signed simultaneously; a residential school for deaf children, where Signed English was employed; and a mainstream public school that relied upon interpreters. Changes at home added more demands, from Tressa's divorce to her remarriage, her long work hours, and the ongoing challenge of complete communication within their family. Through it all, Tressa and Alandra never lost sight of their love for each other, and their affection rippled through the entire family. Today, Tressa can triumphantly point to her confident, educated daughter and also speak with pride of her wonderful relationship with her deaf grandchildren. Alandra's Lilacs is a marvelous story about the resiliency and achievements of determined, loving people no matter what their circumstances might be.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Belonging

Gustie Blaine had it all--she was a cheerleader and an honor-roll student, she even got along with her parents--until the summer of her fifteenth year. That summer she got meningitis. It started with a headache, but in the end the illness left her deaf. Belonging is the story of how Gustie's life changed after that illness.

Gustie spent the first months of her recovery with hearing that yo-yoed. One day she could hear just about everything people said; the next, she understood almost nothing. She tried hearing aids, but they only made the garbled sounds louder, not clearer.

By the following winter her hearing was completely gone. Her best friend and confidante, Sara, suddenly had no time for her. School became a nightmare. She couldn't understand most of what was said in her classes. It was nearly impossible to keep up.

Gustie lived in a hearing world, and she felt cut off from everything and everyone. Even her parents. The old ease between them was now strained; accepting her hearing loss was hard. Traditions that the family had taken for granted, like sitting around the Christmas tree and listening to carols, were now impossible.

Gradually though, Gustie began to find new friends, like Lenore, a classmate who wasn't afraid of Gustie's deafness. She met Mr. Tate, a special education teacher, who showed her she still had choices, even in finding a way to communicate. And most importantly, she met Jack. He thought of her deafness as "part of the whole package."

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Some Kids Are Deaf

Simple text and photographs describe kids who are deaf, the ways they communicate, and some of their everyday activities. Note to Parents and Teachers The Understanding Differences set supports national social studies standards related to individual development and identity. This book describes children who are deaf and illustrates their special needs. The photographs support early readers in understanding the text. The repetition of words and phrases helps early readers learn new words. This book also introduces early readers to subject-specific vocabulary words, which are defined in the Glossary. Early readers may need assistance to read some words and to use the Table of Content's, Glossary, Read More, Internet Sites, and Index sections of the book.

Date Added: 08/03/2021

Shaman

Robert Jeremy Cole, the legendary doctor and hero of "The Physician," left an enduring legacy. From the 11th century on, the eldest son in each generation of the Cole family has borne the same first name and middle initial and many of these men have followed the medical profession. A few have been blessed with their ancestor's diagnostic skill and the "sixth sense" they call The Gift, the ability to know instinctively when death is impending. The tragedy of Rob J.'s life is the deafness of his son, Robert Jefferson Cole, who is called Shaman by everyone who knows him. Shaman's life is difficult. First, he must learn to speak so that he can take his place in the hearing world, and then he must fight against the prejudices of a society where physical differences matter. As Shaman struggles to achieve his identity, the Coles, along with the rest of America, are drawn into the conflict between the North and the South.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Gallaudet

On a May day in 1814, while watching his younger brothers and sisters at play, Thomas noticed a small girl taking no part. She was Alice Cogswell, and deafness shut her out of the circle. The lack of language created a barrier between her and her friends. Thomas invented a game that helped Alice for the first time in her life to understand that things have names. Thomas knew what he could do. He knew he had to bring education for the deaf to America!

Date Added: 03/08/2018

The Story of Beautiful Girl

It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and have been left to languish, forgotten. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Inside Deaf Culture

In this [account] of the changing life of a community, the authors of Deaf in America reveal historical events and forces that have shaped the ways that Deaf people define themselves today. Inside Deaf Culture relates Deaf people's search for a voice of their own, and their proud self-discovery and self description as a flourishing culture.

Padden and Humphries show how the nineteenth-century schools for the deaf, with their denigration of sign language and their insistence on oralist teaching, shaped the lives of Deaf people for generations to come. They describe how Deaf culture and art thrived in mid-twentieth-century Deaf clubs and Deaf theater, and they profile controversial contemporary technologies.

Most triumphant is the story of the survival of the rich and complex American Sign Language long misunderstood but finally recognized by a hearing world that could not conceive of language in a form other than speech. In a moving conclusion, the authors describe their own very different pathways into the Deaf culture, and reveal the confidence and the anxiety of the people of this tenuous community as it faces the future.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Feathers

View our feature on Jacqueline Woodson's Feathers."Hope is the thing with feathers" starts the poem Frannie is reading in school. Frannie hasn't thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more "holy." There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he's not white. Who is he? During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light--her brother Sean's deafness, her mother's fear, the class bully's anger, her best friend's faith and her own desire for "the thing with feathers." Jacqueline Woodson once again takes readers on a journey into a young girl's heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

The Ocean Inside

For Denzel, sound is a mysterious, mind-stretching thing. He can hear some sounds, but he can't figure out what those sounds mean. Half the time, he just ignores what he hears because none of it makes any sense. At other times, however, he tries to imagine what sound must be like for other people. Then he concentrates on sound intensely. He tries to picture sound, to feel sound, to smell and to taste sound. Because he cannot hear, Denzel tries to imagine sound the way other people might imagine what it's like to fly. But no matter how he tries, Denzel cannot imagine how it would feel to hear the way other people hear. Ten to 15 percent of all children in the United States are born with a hearing loss of some kind. Children who are deaf and hard of hearing face different types of challenges as they mature. Learning to communicate, overcome discrimination, and find their place in society can be difficult and confusing for children with hearing loss. The situation is complicated by the fact that their peers, teachers, and parents may not understand their needs. In The Ocean Inside: Youth Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, you will follow Denzel through his own journey through deafness. As you do, you will learn: * the unique challenges facing children who are deaf and hard of hearing, * strategies for dealing with these challenges and approaches to deaf education, and * accomplishments that other deaf people have made along the way.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Some Kids Are Deaf

Young children are curious about everything and everyone. This book acquaints them with some of the tools which deaf kids use. Other books in the Understanding Differences series are available in this library.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Changes for Julie

[Back Cover] Julie is in fifth grade-and in trouble! She was only helping her friend Joy, who is deaf, but her teacher doesn't care. After serving time in detention, Julie sets out to change the system. To do that, she'll have to win the election for student body president, running against the most popular boy in the school. As the election heats up, Julie tries to get the kids to listen to her ideas. When she realizes that the other kids don't like Joy, her choice for vice president, she considers dropping out of the race. But the last thing she wants is to hurt Joy's feelings-or lose her as a friend.

Date Added: 03/08/2018

Deaf American Poetry

“The Deaf poet is no oxymoron,” declares editor John Lee Clark in his introduction to Deaf American Poetry: An Anthology. The 95 poems by 35 Deaf American poets in this volume more than confirm his point. From James Nack’s early metered narrative poem “The Minstrel Boy” to the free association of Kristi Merriweather’s contemporary “It Was His Movin’ Hands Be Tellin’ Me,” these Deaf poets display mastery of all forms prevalent during the past two centuries. Beyond that, E. Lynn Jacobowitz’s “In Memoriam: Stephen Michael Ryan” exemplifies a form unique to Deaf American poets, the transliteration of verse originally created in American Sign Language.

This anthology showcases for the first time the best works of Deaf poets throughout the nation’s history — John R. Burnet, Laura C. Redden, George M. Teegarden, Agatha Tiegel Hanson, Loy E. Golladay, Robert F. Panara, Mervin D. Garretson, Clayton Valli, Willy Conley, Raymond Luczak, Christopher Jon Heuer, Pamela Wright-Meinhardt, and many others. Each of their poems reflects the sensibilities of their times, and the progression of their work marks the changes that deaf Americans have witnessed through the years. In “The Mute’s Lament,” John Carlin mourns the wonderful things that he cannot hear, and looks forward to heaven where “replete with purest joys/My ears shall be unsealed, and I shall hear.” In sharp contrast, Mary Toles Peet, who benefitted from being taught by Deaf teachers, wrote “Thoughts on Music” with an entirely different attitude. She concludes her account of the purported beauty of music with the realization that “the music of my inward ear/Brings joy far more intense.”

Clark tracks these subtle shifts in awareness through telling, brief biographies of each poet. By doing so, he reveals in Deaf American Poetry how “the work of Deaf poets serves as a prism through which Deaf people can know themselves better and through which the rest of the world can see life in a new light.”

Date Added: 01/22/2019