Genreflecting & Read-Alikes: True Biz by Sara Novic

 

True Biz by Sara Novic

TRUE BIZ (adj./exclamation; American Sign Language): really, seriously, definitely, real-talk (Goodreads).

True Biz is a fiction book that bridges both adult fiction and YA realistic fiction. The point of view switches between different characters as you read, giving you a taste of both adults and teenagers, all attending or teaching at a school for the deaf. They are all connected to the deaf world in some way, either they are deaf themselves, or they grew up in a family that spoke ASL because one or more people are deaf. It's a book that dips into niche genres such as disability, romance, LGBTQ, and Coming of Age. For a hearing person like me, it opens up a whole new world I had little exposure to, conversations in the story are written in dialogue when spoken, italics when in ASL, and there's a lot of nonverbal and facial communication that is explained through vivid description. There are even breaks between chapters where the author helps non-ASL speakers visualize ASL and we learn some signs for common expressions. Between the students, there's drama and romance, breakups and lingering feelings, same-sex relationships and straight relationships. It feels like a normal high school, with the same drama and cliques, the same lessons to learn, but an added layer of depth as characters new to ASL and an all-deaf school try to gain their bearing. It's so interesting, and I'm learning a lot!

Here are some other books similar to True Biz - Check them out!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

In this exhilarating novel by the best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry two friends--often in love, but never lovers--come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality (Goodreads).

Remarkable Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus (Goodreads).

Counterfeit by Kristin Chen

For fans of Hustlers and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, the story of two Asian American women who band together to grow a counterfeit handbag scheme into a global enterprise--an incisive and glittering blend of fashion, crime, and friendship from the author of Bury What We Cannot Take and Soy Sauce for Beginners (Goodreads).

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

A novel about a mother’s unbreakable love in a world consumed by fear (Goodreads).

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist (Goodreads).

Happy Reading!

- C