Award-winner
1805 Martha's Vineyard-
Mary Lambert is deaf. She is comfortable within her community on Martha's Vineyard, where many people are deaf. Those who are not deaf speak with signs too. Then a young man from Boston arrives to discover the "cause" of the community's prevalent deafness. As Mary watches him, she realizes he views their deafness as an illness and treats them as lesser individuals. Mary reads his notes/letters and discovers he will be bringing dirt and water samples from the island plus a live specimen. She wonders what a live specimen is. Unfortunately, she finds out! A life of horror and confusion awaits her.
A fascinating piece of history I had never encountered before reading this book.
Book #1 of a trilogy
The author's biography has a misspelling, which annoyed me.
*Highly recommend but discuss----
Points to Discuss: deafness, treatment of Wampanoag and freedmen, prejudices, kidnapping, physical abuse, Mary's hearing brother died (before this book takes place) and her mother is treating Mary unkindly in response to it (Mary thinks his death is her fault)
-Borrowed from the library
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