The girl is Monic, and the batteries power her hearing aids. A young deaf woman tells her own story, drawing herself as a child and conveying, in sparse but vivid images, what defines her world. It is a world without sound, yet full of stark contrasts. The black-and-white illustrations capture this essential truth, laying bare the struggles but also the possibilities of a child who, diagnosed with profound deafness at age two, receives a cochlear implant by the time she turns ten.
Monica Taini is truly a skilled guide to communication through hands and voice.
Her picture book is invaluable for anyone wishing to enter the deaf world. Written for children, it speaks just as powerfully to adults—especially through a brief, tongue-in-cheek glossary (marked "strictly confidential") of deaf culture that manages, brilliantly, to draw smiles from readers of all kinds. Under "integration," we find: "It's when you forget your friend uses hearing aids and you shout, 'But you're deaf!' and he says, 'Yeah!'—and then you both burst out laughing." An accomplishment that sounds easy but is anything but: making both deaf and hearing people laugh together.
Cristina Tersigni, 2018