Hey Jude by Kathleen Stone #giveaway #spotlight #deaf #signlanguage

 

Jude Hastings is one bad decision away from being forced into rehab until she meets four-year-old Shea Sullivan, a deaf child who saves her with a spiritual connection she cannot explain.

Hey Jude

by Kathleen Stone

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

2021 Indies Today Award finalist

“Nice to meet you...?”

“Jude.”

“Like Judith?”

“No.”

“Like Judas?” he teased.

“Like hey,” I finally said.

In 1985 eighteen-year-old Jude Hastings loses her deaf twin sister to a brain aneurysm. A year later her longtime boyfriend dumps her for taking too long to grieve. Jude’s relationship with her parents is more volatile than ever because she’s the child who lived. The next four years see Jude on a path of destruction, leaving a trail of alcohol-induced nights and a laundry list of nameless men in her wake. Love simply doesn’t exist in her world.

Until she meets Shea Sullivan, an unreachable four-year-old deaf boy who steals her heart when she is hired to be his full-time nanny, based solely on her sign language skills. Things on the surface are not as they seem, as Jude quickly learns that Shea is a very troubled little boy with a history of violent behavior, uncontrollable outbursts and a cold, overbearing and curmudgeonly father. There’s no denying the connection Jude shares with Shea, but is it enough to keep her working in his unbearable father’s home?

“ Hey Jude” is the story of a young woman and a child who desperately need each other, with outside circumstances fighting against them at every turn. It’s a story that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you question everything you know about connections of the spirit.

**Celebrate the International Day of Sign Languages on 9/23 & World Day of the Deaf on 9/24!!**

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Kathleen has been a freelance writer since 1999 and now writes full time. Her work has appeared in Doll World Magazine, Apolloslyre.com, The Lake County Journals, Trails.com; USA Today (travel), Livestrong.com (lifestyle), Essortment, eHow, Answerbag, Examiner.com, Suite101 and YahooVoices. She is the author of Heatherstone, the award-winning novels Hey Jude, Tell Me You Love Me and Whispers On A String, and the Head Case Rock Novel Series (Head Case, Whiplash and Haven). She also has short stories published in the Secrets: Fact or Fiction I & II anthologies.

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#Review: Mickey On the Move by Michelle Wagner #deaf #cochlearimplants #disabilities #childrennonfiction

 

Book Details:

Book Title:  Mickey on the Move by Michelle Wagner
Category:  Children's Non-Fiction (Ages 3-7),  38 pages
Genre:  Children's Picture Book
Publisher:  Mascot Books
Release date:   Jan, 2021
Content Rating:  G for everyone.

Book Description:

In this bighearted book, the real story of a young boy with deafness in his ears is aided by his mother and teachers in navigating new school experiences. Mickey is just like everyone else, except he wears cochlear implants and has to do things just a little differently than most. This charming tale reminds us that we can all find happiness if we lean on and support each other.

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My review:

There are so few books that talk about cochlear implants. So, I was really excited to receive this book from the author. I happen to be a person who is mostly deaf and has received a cochlear implant in my right ear. 

This is a true story about a boy named, Mickey and his Mom. Mickey's Mom helps him to prepare for school where he is the only deaf student. They go over sign language and how to cope in a school where everyone hears. His Mom is extremely supportive. (slight spoiler) There is one part in the book where Mickey gets overwhelmed and has to call his Mom. She walks him through this and everything is a-okay. Mickey has friends and all is great in the world. I liked the story over all.

I did, however,  have one major issue with the book and I personally would like the author/illustrator to fix it. That is, the reader never sees Mickey's cochlear being worn. In fact, the only time that an actual cochlear is see is at the beginning of the book where there is an illustration of what it looks like, but again, never on Mickey. I think if you are going to write a book about the subject it should be seen. It is a part of who Mickey and people like me are.

I can't give the book 5 stars mainly for the reason stated above but the story is good and does illustrate what deaf children may deal with in school. 4 stars.

Disclsoure: I received a copy of this book from the author. The views posted here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. 

~Michelle

Meet the Author:

Born and raised in Chicago, Michelle Wagner was always a very positive and outgoing woman. Her energetic love for children and zest for life was admired by everyone who knew her. Michelle is a realtor whose career background involved restaurants and always helping other people. She has dedicated time and support to charities and events to help other children with hearing loss and assist families as they work through the different approaches to raising a special needs child in a typical environment.

connect with author: website ~ instagram

 

#Review: You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner #Deaf #DeafCulture #StreetArt #YA

Summary:
When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural.

Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a “mainstream” school in the suburbs, where she’s treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up.

Out in the ’burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon learns that she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off—and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But she never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.


My review:
This YA book is one of the best I have read and that I simply could not put down once I started reading it. The main character, Julia, is a street artist that is Deaf. That alone made me intrigued by the book as there are very few books written with the main character being Deaf.
In addition, Julia has two moms who are also Deaf.

Julia finds great solace in her street art and takes great pains to make her art just right. However, in a new community, she finds that someone had decided to take Julia on, and tags her art by one-upping her. Who is this person or persons? Why have they chosen her? If they are so good, why don't they do their own work?

The book drops hints throughout who the person or persons might be. However, the twist was so well done that I did not know until near the end of the book.

The author does an amazing job of immersing the reader into the Deaf culture as well. She illustrates how people often interact with Deaf people and give a peek into what it is like for the person.

The author also gives a hint what it may be like having same-sexed parents but does not make that big of a deal over it. It could, however, leave open a possible sequel to this book and a continuation of where the book left off.

I highly recommend this book for young adults and adults to read. There is certainly much discussion that could come from this book as well.

5 stars!

Disclosure: I picked up a copy of this book from my local library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle aka Naila Moon

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