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Genre: Contemporary with Deaf Rep | Age: Middle Grade (8+) | Buy: Amazon or BookShop | ⭐See star rating

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Iris is a 12-year-old who was born deaf and feels like she doesn’t belong anywhere. She learns about Blue 55, a whle who sings a song no one else can hear. She is determined to find him to play him a song he can understand.

Personal Review:

This was a sweet adventure. I had been looking for a middle grade book to read with a Deaf rep and this fit the bill nicely. And after reading the author’s notes at the end, I think this book was really well done and represented the community nicely.

I love how brilliant Iris and her friend Wendell are. I think that was a really needed added aspect. I also thought that school was accurately represented and was so thankful for Iris’s interpreter and the couple of teachers who helped Iris out.

For being so brilliant, the risks that Iris took were pretty out there sometimes. She really thought she could do a lot without adult support. Thankfully she was realistically stopped when needed and I kind of enjoyed the crazy adventure she went on with her grandma as a result of her other attempts failing.

I was not very impressed with the adults in the book. Even though grandma was my favorite, she still lied to her daughter (Iris’s mother) about what they were doing. Iris’s parents let their own insecurities and frustrations get in the way of a relationship with Iris. And, honestly, looking at her relationships and their lack of trust and communication kind of helps you believe her attempts to run off on her own.

I thought the whale’s perspective was a cute addition, but the ending whale scene was too far-fetched for me :). Good, clean fun, though, with a great look into Deaf culture and ASL.

Happy reading!

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🤖 Always written and edited without the use of AI.