True Biz

True biz (adj./exclamation; American Sign Language): really, seriously, definitely, real-talk

True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history finals, and have politicians, doctors, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they'll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the hearing headmistress, a CODA (child of deaf adult(s)) who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another-and changed forever.

This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.

1. How much knowledge did you have about the Deaf community and/or ASL before you started True Biz? In what ways did the novel reflect or augment your understanding?

2. Which character did you identify with most, and why?

3. The conversation around cochlear implants can get thorny quickly, which Novi? illustrates throughout the novel with lines like "She's read about ... parents deemed negligent for opting against surgery" and "Isolation was a requirement of the implant, her doctor cautioned." For Charlie, a defective device and poor instruction from doctors and parents leads to "oral failure" and a host of other issues. For other Deaf children, the procedure is so prohibitively expensive it isn't even a consideration. Discuss the pros and cons of cochlear implants, and the ethical considerations for parents, medical professionals, and device manufacturing companies, citing examples from the novel.

4. Novi? shows so many varied examples of d/Deaf families and childhoods, from Charlie's ambivalent parents, to Austin's celebrated generations of Deaf folks, to Kayla's experiences code-switching from Black ASL to ASL, to the horrifying abuse Eliot suffers at his mother's church. Compare and contrast the experiences each student had growing up, and how those experiences helped mold them into the young adults they've become.

5. Discuss Charlie's relationship with her mother. What, if anything, do they owe each other?

6. How does True Biz explore the ways the experiences of Deaf children, teens, adults, and elderly people differ?

7. February is hearing but is headmistress of a Deaf school. Did you have any concerns about this? Why or why not?

8. What kind of responsibility did February have growing up as the child of Deaf parents? How are her childhood experiences similar to those of children of immigrants?

9. Why does February confide in Wanda over Mel about the closing of River Valley? Do you think this was a betrayal? Why or why not?

10. February's curriculum is interspersed throughout the novel. Describe the effect this had on your reading experience.

11. Like all teenagers, the young adult characters in the novel occupy one of life's in-between stages-as Austin notes when he's sifting through magazines at the doctor's office. "All of them were either adult in the worst way ... or too childish." In what other ways do the characters-including the adults-straddle two or more different worlds? If each character were at the center of a different Venn diagram, how would you label the circles?

12. Slash may not be a great romantic partner for Charlie, but he proves to be a surprisingly great ally. What are some of the ways he shows this? How might you fight for accessibility for Deaf and hard-of-hearing folks in different areas of your life?

13. Charlie describes an attraction "not only to [Austin] but to the kind of person he was, the life that might have been hers if she had his stride and sureness and a hundred years of sign language coded right into her bones." Do you think it's common for crushes to walk this line between romantic attraction and envy?

14. In what ways did River Valley remind you of other schools in classic boarding school novels or movies? In what ways did it strike you as different?

15. Charlie is deeply affected by her experience of live music at the Gas Can. What are intense sensory experiences from your life?

"Goodness, I can't even begin to put into words all the feelings this book provoked! ... An eye-opening and heartfelt story about human connection and the beauty and adversity woven into the deaf community and culture. It is both an educational and electrifying peek into a family's life as they fight to forge connections even as the outside world threatens to close the door on them. I loved this story so much, it is not one to miss."-Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club April '22 Pick)

"This important novel should-true biz-change minds and transform the conversation."-Maile Meloy, The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

"Part tender coming-of-age story, part electrifying tale of political awakening, part heartfelt love letter to Deaf culture, True Biz is wholly a wonder."-Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere

"Rollicking, immersive, and boldly, exquisitely felt, True Biz delves into the deepest questions about community, communication, and collective action, inviting the reader into a world of language made new."-Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun

"Sara Novic is one of the best writers of my generation-not just the novelist of Deaf culture, but of human nature writ large. Do yourself a favor and get this book-it is inimitable."-Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa

"This is my favorite kind of novel, fascinating and smart and brimming with contrasts. It's a coming-of-age story but also one of anarchy and protest. It's about belonging versus conforming, individual strength alongside solidarity."-Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is and One Two Three

"Reading True Biz was a transformative experience-it's as important a book as I've read in years. I was in awe of the care and love and hard-won wisdom that went into the writing of it. Sara Novic is the real deal."-Jami Attenberg, author of All This Could Be Yours

"True Biz is exquisitely crafted and absolutely riveting."-Vendela Vida, author of We Run the Tides

"In confident, funny prose, True Biz asks the question of all questions: Who are my people? And then, with enormous attunement to the embodied experience of being deaf and being human, answers it."-Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of The Third Rainbow Girl

"Sara Novi?'s gifts for character, story, and language are evident from the first page. True Biz feels like the discovery of a new written form, a love letter to language itself."-Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River

"This is brilliant."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[A] touching and witty celebration of Deaf culture ... moving and revelatory."-Booklist (starred review)

"A coming-of-age story that explores the complexities of community and the ways in which language defines us."-Kirkus