New Picture Book: Shay & Ivy: Beyond the Kingdom (May 2015)

Shay& Ivy: Beyond the Kingdom (May 15, 2015) by Sheena McFeely (Author), Casie Trace (Illustrator)

Hardcover: 28 pages

Publisher: The Mansfield Press (May 15, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0996278508

ISBN-13: 978-0996278508

This was part of a Kickstarter project.  

The book includes a Deaf family. 

 

Book Description:

The first book is about Shay & Ivy and their friends, at an imaginary ball in their bedroom, dreaming of being princesses. They all dreamt of riding horses, owning closets full of gowns, and dancing in royal castles. All girls, but Shay felt out of place. How was she to royally fit in if she did not want to be a princess anymore?

Determined as ever, Shay was going to find the answer. Shay & Ivy soon find out that their dreams go beyond a kingdom. The sisters began to visualize themselves as fearless pilots riding planes, scientists owning labs to perform experiments, and astronauts dancing among the stars.

From Amazon From the Author

What inspired the author to write this book?

• Many things inspired me to write this book such as raising my two girls, seeing tons of princess-related items in the girls' aisles at toy stores, and meeting Wh [sic] so many exceptional women. I felt it was time to bid farewell to the kingdom we live in and explore beyond the kingdom. 

What do the author hope that children will learn from this book?

• Media and literature are powerful influencers so, it is critical to expose to our children to stories that are underrepresented. This book has a strong theme underlying of remaining true to yourself regardless of what the society or majority thinks. It is okay to not follow the crowd and walk alone. It's tough to do that, but when you do that...the rewards are ten times more rewarding.  As a Deaf person and an innovator, I've been through the road many times. Be bold, be who you are.

How did the author come up with the title Shay & Ivy Beyond the Kingdom?

• Shay & Ivy are names of my two girls. Beyond the Kingdom is a metaphor that means many things to different people. Beyond the Kingdom is a barrier - something, be a situation or person or challenge, that's restricting us. We must find within ourselves the strength to go past that very kingdom. It also means another thing to me...Being a princess is almost every girl's dream, BUT we cannot forget our pilots, astronauts, scientists, and police who are women. Where are they in films? books? stores? The title Beyond the Kingdom gives the place for girls to explore past the kingdom to see what's out there. 

Why did the author pick those particular occupations in the book?

• When I had my first daughter, I set up an event called "The Pearls" to honor Deaf women across America. Since the establishment of The Pearls, 42 Deaf women have been awarded as Pearls - in 2011 and 2014. They are movers and shakers in their fields. Be it an artist, politician, writer, business owner, founder/president, and athlete. Each one hold a pearl within themselves - layered, dignified, and strong. So, when I began to write Shay & Ivy Beyond the Kingdom, some of the Pearls came to mind. Moreover, I've also checked online to see which jobs that women are not large in number.  With these two in mind, that's how I came to selecting those particular occupations and putting them into this very book. 

About the Author

Sheena McFeely was born in Hong Kong to an Irish father and a Hong Kongese mother. Shortly after her parents' discovery of Sheena being Deaf, America called their names. Being the first in her family to go to college, Sheena graduated from CSUN with a BA in Visual Communications and will be receiving her MA in Sign Language Education this year.

Sheena is known for founding ASL Nook, an online hub of ASL teaching webisodes, that has received acclaims from families and schools everywhere. If not for ASL Nook, her first children's book "Shay & Ivy Beyond the Kingdom" would have never happened.

Click to play video from DeafNation

New Publication: Until I'm Safe by Jane Grace (May 2015)

I just purchased this book and I'm pretty excited about it. The main character appears to be an oral deaf character named Marguerite who is 17-years-old.

Until I'm Safe by Jane Grace

Print Length: 234 pages

ISBN: 1680460862

Publisher: Fire and Ice Young Adult Books; First edition (May 7, 2015)

Book Description:

Does she stay and possibly get shot by her crazed father or run into the storm of the century, Hurricane Katrina?

Marguerite Aucoin has no choice but to run! Like the fiction heroine she writes about, a teen named Toots Gentry, Marguerite must be brave, despite the fact she’s lost both hearing aids and is virtually deaf.

Amand rescues Marguerite from the swirling bayou waters. At his home, she awakes but doesn’t speak, writing her name, Toots Gentry. With time, he learns her secrets, and discovers someone’s trying to kill her. But’s he’s fallen in love with Marguerite and is determined to protect her.

From her website,

Jane Grace is a Texan who’s worked with kids forever. Now she wants to bring that experience to young readers. Cool and calm…explosive and extreme–this is the life of kids, even those up to the age of twenty! Little kids love the adults around them. Middle school kids are learning that things aren’t always what they seem. Junior high kids live in their own world of hormones and seldom come up for air while senior high kids see the real world approaching and either work to fit in or fight to stay outside the realm of reality this presents. Over time Jane G will present stories based on years of experience with kids who are ‘normal’ to those who wish they were.

The Wishing Pearl by Nicole O'Dell-- free from Kindle

The Wishing Pearl (Diamond Estates #1) by Nicole O'Dell
Published October 1st 2011 by Barbour Books

Current Publisher: Choose NOW Publishing; 2 edition (March 1, 2015)-- I just purchased the e-Reader version for today's

Kindle Price: $0.00

A character named Tammy is deaf. The story includes multiple characters using “sign language.”

Book Description:

Join conflicted sixteen-year-old Olivia Mansfield on her journey to hope and healing as she leaves her messed-up life behind and moves into Diamond Estates, a home for troubled teens. This brand-new novel for teen girls will not only entertain, but also promises to capture your heart and challenge your faith.

Author Cecily Paterson's 3rd book will include multiple deaf characters & she needs YOUR help!!!

Last November, I reviewed and challenged author Cecily Anne Paterson to not only write a third  book in her series but to include at least one other deaf character.  Tonight, I’m a bit giddy because Ms. Paterson and I have been discussing this and she’s ready for some input on her third novel! Read that as her Deaf Character Jazmine is ready to meet some other deaf characters!!! (Okay, my excessive use of exclamation points might be annoying but I'm super excited about this.)

If you haven’t read Invisible or Invincible, you’re going to want to do so quickly especially if you’re interested in helping out with this project! Of course, reading her books isn’t required but I certainly encourage it!

How many chances do you have to help an author do research for an upcoming book and how many chances do you get to have a say in the journey of a fictional character such as the Jazmine, a teenage girl who is deaf and fluent in Auslan?! 

Well, here’s your chance! Click on the picture below, or follow the link here to answer a brief survey. She's even offering to acknowledge your help in her forthcoming novel.  

Please feel free to share this with anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing who might be interested in participating in this important research.

Interview with Deborah Lytton, author of Silence (2015)

Silence by Deborah Lytton
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Shadow Mountain (March 3, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1609079450
ISBN-13: 978-1609079451

I’m going to start this a bit unconventionally because I’ve been in that kind of place this week. It all began when a new member of the book club that I’m in made the statement, “it must be horrifying to not be able to hear.” This was completely off topic and not at all related to deaf characters. In fact, this was part of a discussion about horror fiction.  I’m afraid that my reading falls into the categories of Deaf characters and dead characters a bit too often. Don’t think I didn’t roll my eyes at her remark. I pressed her a bit because I just couldn’t let it go. Her response included words mostly associated with loss. That’s just not where my mind goes when I consider deaf characters or deaf people but it seems to for some.  

Deborah Lytton’s novel Silence has been described as a book about friendship and hope. It’s one of the most loving YA stories that I’ve read and it very much has to do with perseverance and well, loss… or perhaps more specifically, the actual coping of loss.  It isn’t what you might think. Yes, the story begins with Stella who has the most beautiful singing voice so that she actually (SPOILER ALERT) lands the lead in her school performance. She even has hopes of making it on Broadway. But then tragedy strikes (which is not hearing loss although that is the result). There is an accident resulting in Stella being unable to hear. What Stella finds difficult and what I found difficult to read about especially while having just had a Ménière's disease attack of vertigo, was how much the character had to cope with her own vertigo. So when I explain that Lytton’s book made me a little nauseous, please understand that this has nothing to do with the plot of her story or the author’s writing style. She was simply able to convey the reality of severe vertigo in just a few short scenes such as when Stella attempts to lace her shoes but pauses because she’s dizzy.

Stella’s loss is that of the future she thought was going to be possible. Joseph Campbell writes, “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Of course if anyone is going to have read Joseph Campbell in this book, it is Hayden.

Hayden is the guy with whom Stella has a crush. He is an outcast because he stutters. Hayden’s own loss is what leads him to help Stella cope with all of the changes she’s going through although honestly I think these two would have found their way to each other even without tragedy.

As far as Stella’s deafness, I think Lytton is able to show how an adolescent would cope. When I was 15 being diagnosed with Ménière's, my doctor told my family and me that I would never ride roller coasters again because of the vertigo and that I would most likely lose my hearing before I was 30. As a teen, I focused only on the roller coaster because to me that was the real tragedy. Family members especially our mothers (including Stella’s mother) focus more on the medical side. They cry while attempting to cheer you up because they are grieving the loss of the perceived futures of their children. Teens rely on their friends such as Hayden and his 17-day challenges while Stella is waiting for the processor for her cochlear implant. Lytton’s description of Stella receiving her processor and “hearing” is quite fair too but I don’t want to give away any more of the story than I have to.

I do feel that Stella is able to understand Hayden through lip-reading a little too easily and quickly. When the story begins, she has just met Hayden. They do not have a lifetime of knowing one another.  And while she struggles understanding family members and friends, Stella understands Hayden almost perfectly presumably because he stutters and that slows down his speech. To be fair, there is a good amount of communicating via text messaging.  Other than that, and other readers might either overlook this aspect or argue that I’m wrong which is perfectly alright,  I think this was a pretty honest portrayal of a girl losing her hearing. 

I enjoyed Stella and Hayden's alternating chapters so that readers can access each of their thoughts.  

*****Below is my interview with the author of Silence, Deborah Lytton*******

The author on Hayden and Stella's beach.

SP: What inspired you to include a deaf character in your novel?

DL: I had this dream of a story where the characters could listen without hearing and speak without words.  I wanted to tell a story about a girl who loses her hearing, and how becoming deaf challenges her to find herself. Stella begins the book very much focused on the way things sound. In fact, the first time she hears Hayden speak, she is disappointed because his voice isn’t beautiful to her ears. She changes into a much stronger and more complete person because she is deaf.   

SP: What research did you do to make your character believable?

DL: I began with research about head injuries and resulting sensorineural hearing loss. I read a lot of articles and interviewed a pediatrician and a pediatric nurse practitioner about my medical questions. Specialists from the House Ear Clinic answered specific questions from me about cochlear implants. I watched videos and read first-hand accounts from people having their implants programmed to understand what that experience would be like for Stella.

SP: What do you hope that readers will take away or learn from Silence?

DL: My greatest wish is that readers will find hope in the book. That they will relate to Stella and Hayden’s journeys to overcome obstacles in their lives and that this will inspire readers to seek their own voices.

SP: What advice do you have for young readers?

DL: Find your own voice in creativity. Paint, draw, take photographs, write stories or poems, dance, just express yourself. Your voice needs to be heard.

And keep reading!

SP: Anything you'd like to add...

DL: The most important lesson I have learned in becoming a writer is to never give up. If you believe in yourself and you keep going even when things seem impossible, you can accomplish anything.

Thank you, Sharon for bringing books to readers and for hosting me on your blog today.  
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 For more information about the author including her fascinating background as an actor and singer (performing back up vocals for Belinda Carlisle and Frank Sinatra!) and her other books, visit: http://www.deborahlytton.com.
To purchase the book, click the link below.