True Biz

Austin is a fifth-generation Deaf person on his mother’s side, where inherited deafness is “a family heirloom” (45). Austin is a sophomore in high school and attends River Valley, a Deaf boarding school in Ohio. This is also a family tradition, as several generations before him attended the school from a young age. Growing up in a Deaf family—with a Deaf mother, a hearing father who signs, and two Deaf grandparents—Austin was fully immersed in the Deaf community from birth. He is aware of the ways in which growing up among other Deaf and signing people positively impacts his self-perception and his life in general. While many of his peers at schools come from environments where Deafness is shamed, “Austin had a charmed childhood surrounded by sign language and people who loved him fiercely” (47). This sense of security and belonging allows him to become “the kind of bubbly, self-assured boy one can be only if he feels wholly understood, the prized child of the tri-county Deaf community” (47).

Austin’s generally happy disposition is challenged following the birth of his baby sister, Skylar. He expects her to be Deaf; when she turns out to be hearing, his relationship with his family begins to worsen. Austin’s relationship with his hearing father becomes complicated, as Austin finds his father’s enthusiasm about Skylar’s hearing abilities deeply offensive. Though things seem to improve when Skylar is eventually declared Deaf, they take a turn for the worse when his parents reveal that they are considering fitting her with a cochlear implant. Austin’s furious response to his parents’ decision highlights his feelings about cochlear implants and about Deaf people in general. He pointedly asks his parents, “Why don’t you love her the way she is?” (285), indicating his pride in his Deaf heritage and his desire for other Deaf people to live enriched, normal lives as he does without being shaped by the hearing world.

Though Austin is a generally well-meaning person, he is not without faults. Notably, during an outing with his friends, he pokes fun at Kayla for her preferred way to sign a word he is trying to teach to Charlie. Austin’s dismissal of Kayla’s sign preference—which is the sign she knows from BASL—suggests an implicit bias regarding what he considers to be real or pure ASL (i.e., that which is used by white people).

February is a middle-aged queer woman living in the suburbs of Ohio with her wife, Mel. February is the headmistress of River Valley School for the Deaf and is a CODA (Child of a Deaf Person). In the beginning of the novel, she is adjusting to her new living situation: Her mother, who has dementia, recently moved in. February is a devoted and loving daughter who is willing to do anything to make her mother comfortable and happy, especially in light of her declining health. She admires her mother and looked to her for guidance and advice throughout her life. Her mother’s worsening memory means that February must begin to anticipate a life in which her mother will not be around to help her. This becomes a major source of anxiety. When her mother eventually passes away halfway through the novel, February’s grief is overwhelming and all-consuming.

While she is clearly an intelligent and competent woman, February is also deeply anxious and conflict-avoidant. She often prefers to keep her true feelings to herself, especially if they are negative. Though she is passionate about her job and cares deeply about her students, her position as headmistress of River Valley becomes yet another source of deep anxiety when she is told that the school will be shutting down within the next year. The outcome will displace her family, as they live on school property, but February keeps the news to herself for months, unable to cope with the reality that she will lose both her job and, like her students, her home.

Perhaps most notably, February has a deep love and appreciation for Deaf community and culture. She admires its people and traditions and is adamant that they remain intact for generations to come. Deeply ingrained in the community and culture, “February dreaded the day scientists would perfect some stem cell transplant or in-utero tweak that would rid the world of deaf people and render her native language obsolete” (40). Her fondness for the Deaf community motivates February to provide for her students as best she can, even if it means stepping up to teach for the first time in years when she is short a history instructor. Knowing that many of her students lead difficult home lives outside River Valley, February is committed to giving them not only a good education but also a place to call home. Indeed, that “was the thing she loved about River Valley—even without seeing another soul on the quad, she knew she wasn’t alone” (327).

The Serranos are a newly divorced couple that consists of Victor and Lynnette. Between them, they share a teenaged daughter, Charlie, who is Deaf and under Victor’s custody following the divorce.

Victor, a software engineer, is an easygoing and committed parent. When he assumes custody of Charlie, he immediately signs the two of them up for nightly sign language classes. Most importantly, he is the impetus for Charlie’s enrollment at River Valley School for the Deaf. That Charlie’s father so promptly enrolls her in Deaf school after his divorce suggests that he began considering the option some time ago and suggests that the parents had opposing views on the matter during their marriage. Additionally, his commitment to learning ASL alongside Charlie indicates his desire to better provide for and communicate with her.

Unlike her ex-husband, Charlie’s mother was never keen on having her learn sign language. She drove the decisions to have Charlie receive a cochlear implant and attend speech therapy lessons to better acclimate to the hearing world. Charlie became aware at a young age that “she was not the daughter her mother wanted” (35). Though Charlie at one point chalks their awkward relationship up to a personality clash, Lynnette’s reluctance to engage with Deaf culture—ASL, River Valley, other Deaf people—points to an obvious shame regarding her daughter’s deafness. In fact, Lynnette is so intent on ensuring that Charlie is as hearing-adjacent as possible that she insists Charlie undergo surgery again after she suffers a life-threatening accident caused by her cochlear implant.

Beth and Henry Workman are a hearing and Deaf couple living in Ohio with their son, Austin, and their newborn baby, Skylar. Beth is a fourth-generation Deaf person, having been raised in a family that regards deafness as a family heirloom. Like her parents and her ancestors, Beth is a proud Deaf person. She is deeply entrenched in Deaf culture and community. Like her parents, Beth is adamant that Austin should experience an upbringing like her own, as she also began boarding at River Valley at a young age. Beth is met with disappointment from her parents and Austin when she reveals that she is considering implanting Skylar, a procedure to which the family was historically opposed.

Henry is a hearing man who works as a sign language interpreter. Being married to Beth and fluent in ASL enabled him to become fully immersed in Deaf community and culture. However, when his daughter is born hearing, Henry expresses obvious excitement, as he is happy to have another member of the family with whom he can share experiences as a hearing person. Henry is also the person who breaks the news to his family that River Valley is shutting down; he was present as an interpreter at the school’s board meeting. Henry’s inability to abide by the protocol of confidentiality, in this case, reflects his desire to be honest with his family, the people for whom he cares most.

Mel is a middle-aged woman who lives in Ohio with her wife, February, and her mother-in-law. Mel is an easygoing and adaptable person, as in evident in her willingness to take in February’s mother, who has dementia. Though Mel is hearing and does not sign, she makes regular efforts to communicate with February’s mother and is happy to attend Deaf social gatherings, despite her lack of ASL knowledge. She is relatively even-tempered but reveals herself to be somewhat jealous and insecure in her marriage when she discovers that February used to date one of her teachers, Wanda. Her romantic history with February and her continuing friendship with her become a sore spot in their marriage, although Mel and Wanda are like-spirited individuals and get along well with one another.

Slash is a recent high school graduate and a politically awakened, antiestablishment individual. Formally known as Kyle, Slash went to high school with Charlie and was romantically involved with her for a short period. When they reconnect, Charlie discovers that he plays in a band weekly at a club in Colson and lives in a ramshackle house with his bandmates. No longer the goofy class clown he was in high school, Slash is deeply concerned about social issues and expresses a desire to do what he can to help those who live on the margins—even if that means breaking the law. Though Slash is reluctant to be exclusive with Charlie when they reconnect, he displays an obvious fondness for her in his behavior and communication. In particular, unlike his bandmates and his friends while he was in high school, Slash tries to communicate with Charlie in the way that is most helpful to her. When he learns that she can sign now, he learns the ASL alphabet so that he can fingerspell anything she cannot easily read on his lips. Slash’s consideration of Charlie and his eagerness to protest societal wrongs demonstrate that at his core, Slash is caring, passionate, and fearless.

Kayla is a sophomore at River Valley and Charlie’s roommate. Kayla is a Black Deaf person who comes from a working-class background; her mother and her aunt work as housekeepers. Though River Valley overall is something of a safe space for Kayla, as it is for many of her peers, it is flawed. This reality is evident in the racism that she endures regularly from her peers, many of whom are not familiar with BASL. That Kayla “was careful to switch between blander, more standard versions of signs in mixed company to avoid the inevitable white people meltdown” indicates her awareness that even within the Deaf community, her Blackness renders her an outsider. Kayla plans to attend Gallaudet University after high school and is determined to “learn as much as she could and do whatever she could to dismantle all that she knew to be broken” (198). Kayla’s response to enduring daily discrimination, even within the supposed safety of her own community, indicates her drive to build a better, more inclusive world.