ASL/Signing/Deaf main characters

[Allison]

I'm looking for books with characters who are Deaf/deaf and use some form of sign language - characters who sign instead of speak are also welcome. Main and secondary characters are wonderful. I prefer contemporary fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, and YA. Any suggestions?

[Dee]

What I Didn't Say - he is mute and unable to talk - ya contemporary

[Feliks]

Ah! I can recommend some. I have sign-language and deaf culture in my background.

Some of these will be nonfiction though--these titles--does that matter?
Deaf Like Me (nonfiction)
A Loss for Words: The Story of Deafness in a Family (nonfiction)

As for fiction:

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Probably the most tender of all such stories. Its as intense and superb as when it was first written. Paired with a fine movie, too.

Johnny Belinda Another classic. Goes way back. Also has movie adaptations.

And you probably already know about, 'Children of a Lesser God'.

[Allison]

I'll check out What I Didn't Say - it looks good! Thanks!

And yeah, I vastly prefer fiction - I read some nonfiction, but I like fiction better. :) Thanks, though! And yes, I know all about Children of a Lesser God and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - they're wonderful.

[infael]

There was a deaf main character in a SF series, Starbridge #5, Silent Songs by A.C Crispin and Kathleen O'Malley was worked at Gally.

[Kate]

In This Sign is an oldie. I read it in the 70s.

[Kate]

Also .... Hurt Go Happy
.... Deaf Child Crossing
.... Silent Dances

[Pamela]

Apple is My Sign, by Mary Riskind. It's a children's novel, about a 10-year-old boy who's deaf.

[Andria]

Of Sound Mind by Jean Ferris. YA, boy who is deaf and signs.

[Andria]

Correction, he has deaf family members and signs with them, but he is not deaf.

[BookWoman]

Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle.

[Peter]

Andrew Vachss has a series about a criminal PI named Burke. One of his associates/family members is Max the Silent, a ridiculously deadly martial artist who happens to be deaf and mute. Max uses gestures to talk with the people around him, rather than a formal sign language, but communicating with him is handled very well in my opinion.

One warning - all of Vachss' books are pretty intense. They generally involve some kind of child abuse, sometimes truly horrific. Burke and his crew are trying to stop or avenge the abuse, but it can still be hard to take.

[Joseph]

Check out:
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John (4 stars)
The Gift of the Girl Who Couldn't Hear by Susan Richards Shreve
The Boys of San Joaquin by D. James Smith
The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan
Jessi's Secret Language by Ann M. Martin

[Jai]

Take a look at Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series. She's got a main character who can't speak because he holds the demon of secrets, and if he opens his mouth, all the secrets in the world will spill out. It's an interesting premise.

[oliviasbooks]

Just Like Everybody Else. I loved it, when I read it in the 80s.

Maybe: Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller

[Allison]

Ooh, thank you so much everyone! The Lords of the Underworld series sounds VERY interesting!

I do tend to lean heavily towards fiction where the character who signs/is d/Deaf is NOT used as an object lesson for how wonderful they are to endure so much, poor thing, etc. I like my characters to be interesting with lives and loves and normal stuff! So I will be sorting through all of these for such wonderful stuff!

[Feliks]

Seriously. Excellent point there, about typecasting.

[infael]

Allison, I fully understand where you're coming from as I'm deaf. The Starbridge book fits the bill well.

[Allison]

infael, I'm not, but I am a Special Education teacher, and the next person who looks at one of my kids and coos how brave they are, or how sweet kids with Down Syndrome are, might get kicked, I swear. It's like my kids aren't real PEOPLE, and it makes me crazy beyond belief - I can only imagine how you feel about it!

[Tess]

I love the vampire romance series "Black Dagger Brotherhood" and one of the main characters is John Matthew, who is mute. You meet him for the first time in book #2Lover Eternal, and he shows up a lot throughout the series. His specific romance is in book #8, Lover Mine. If you like the series, you may as well start from the beginning just because he does have so much back story in the rest of them, before you get to his romance.
*** Caution - very violent and very graphic. ***
Plus they use stupid terms like "Shitkickers" to describe their boots... but I still love it!

[Dee]

romance but Never Seduce a Scot - historical though, so before ASL - ppl don't know she is deaf, they think she is daft

[Lee Anne]

I'll second The Raging Quiet.

[Allison]

Ooh, awesome, thanks!

[Lee Anne]

Also, I don't know if I'll get in trouble for going off topic, but the tv show "Switched at Birth" has a deaf protagonist. It's a totally soapy teen drama, but is really fun to watch and works in sign language to the episodes--recently they did a whole episode in just sign language (with subtitles).

[Cyndy]

If you like romance Catherine Anderson's Annie's Song.
It's about a young girl who was deaf and everyone thought she was mentally challenged. She was raped by a young man and his older brother marries her when her family finds her pregnant. Very sweet book.

[Kitty]

not sure if anyone has mentioned the hear no evil series by Kate chester first is death in the afternoon i hope they are still in print.

[Kitty]

Morris glietzman (not sure i spelled that right) wrote a coupke blabber mouth and sticky beak

[Anna]

Hide and Seek first fiction in English language featuring mute/deaf character.

[Jk0508]

My Sister's Voice, by Mary Carter was very interesting. It gave me a lot of insights into deaf culture I had never heard about before. Some people didn't like the ending, which, sadly I can't remember because I read so much. It's about twin sisters, and the deaf sister is a very sting character who is proud to be deaf. I enjoyed it, but can't promise a well written ending.

[Cheryl]

My Sister's Voice
Annie's Song
"Blabbermouth" and Other Stories Pack
Sticky Beak
Sudden Death (for Hear no Evil)
for some links. I may well have missed some.

Is there a Listopia for these? There should be - maybe the OP or someone can create one? I would, but I really have no way to vet the choices as I've no experience and have read, um, only one of the suggestions I believe....

[Rosana]

I loved Deafening by Canadian author Frances Itani

[Allison]

I could probably do a listopia! ...if I can figure out how. Thanks everyone for the recs!

[bookel]

Ten-Speed Summer (Sweet Dreams #77) by Deborah Kent
Who Stole Kathy Young? by Margaret Goff Clark
Summer Witches by Theresa Tomlinson
A dance to still music by Barbara Corcoran
Belonging by Virginia M. Scott
Cheshire Moon by Nancy Butts
Just Like Everybody Else by Lillian Rosen
Annie's World by Nancy Smiler Levinson
(Note: Despite the similarities in plot, Annie's World (paperback) is a revised, shorter edition of World Of Her Own (hardcover).)

I've read all of the Hear No Evil series and it is excellent. Apparently the ASL is accurate.

1. Death in the Afternoon by Kate Chester
2. Missing! by Kate Chester
3. A Time of Fear by Kate Chester
4. Dead and Buried by Kate Chester
5. Sudden Death by Kate Chester
6. Playing With Fire by Kate Chester

I'm sure I saw a website of books on deaf and hearing impaired characters, but can't seem to find it now. I did find this one:
Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature
http://www.pajka.blogspot.com.au/

You may want to check as many other books with deaf characters as possible yourself for accuracy, as text of some are not searchable.

[Annie]

The main character of the YA novel Darker Still is not deaf, but she can't speak and uses sign language to communicate.

[Westcoast_girl]

Marlee Matlin has multiple books with Deaf characters

Feathers by Jacqueline Pearson

Also, as other people have said
Deafened
Of Sound Mind
Hurt got Happy

[Sam~~ we cannot see the moon, and yet the waves still rise~~]

The Orange Houses
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

[Nadine]

Might have been mentioned but I will throw in Five Flavors of Dumb. (The deaf heroine manages a rock band.)

[Cheryl]

A second mention is fine, but fyi, in case anyone doesn't know - a quick way to check for all the books that have been mentioned in a topic (assuming the link has been added, not just the title typed in), is to look to the right rail.

Under the ad, near the 'fold' (screen page break) there are two lists: books mentioned, and authors mentioned. Note the "more" links, too.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Hoggee

"Target Audience: Ages 10 to 14.

Summary: Always overshadowed by his competitive older brother, especially in their work as mule drivers on the Erie Canal, fourteen-year-old Howard finally finds the courage to pursue his dreams of becoming an educator after he learns about sign language and teaches it to his deaf friend in nineteenth-century New York State."

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Here are the Listopias tagged deaf:

http://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=...

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

A Single Light

"A deaf and dumb girl growing up in a small Spanish village finds in the church a priceless statue of the Christ Child which becomes the one thing that will not reject her affection."

[Kitty]

can you feel the thunder.

[MJ]

Tall Tatted & Tempting. The Reed Brother series has a main character who’s deaf and his family using asl.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Elizabeth ♛Smart Girls Love Trashy Books♛]

Soundless though the main character does regain her hearing it's implied nobody else does, and she does know how to sign

[amia]

the magnus chase series has a side character who’s deaf and mute

[Dee]

not a main character - but the little boy in Victoria Thompson's Gaslight mystery series uses sign - starting around book 3 i think

The Silence Between Us - this was one of the ya audiobook sync books this year - i haven't listened yet though