This gripping, stand-alone story, set in the world of the award-winning Show Me a Sign and Set Me Free, completes a unique and unforgettable trilogy that centers the Deaf experience.
As a young teacher on Martha’s Vineyard, Mary Lambert feels restless and adrift. So when a league of missionaries invite her to travel abroad, she knows it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Paris is home to a pioneering deaf school where she could meet its visionary instructors Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc—and even bring back their methods to help advance formal deaf education in America!
But the endeavor comes at a cost: The missionaries’ plan to “save” deaf children is questionable at best—and requires Mary’s support. What’s more, the missionaries’ work threatens the Wampanoag and other native peoples’ freedom and safety. Is pursuing Mary’s own goals worth the price of betraying her friends and her own values?
So begins a feverish and fraught adventure, filled with cunning characters, chance encounters, and new friendships. Together with Show Me a Sign and Set Me Free, this stunning story will enrich your understanding of Deaf history and culture, and forever alter your perspective on ability and disability.
Topics Deaf children. Deaf education. People with disabilities. Sign language. Nineteenth-century social conditions for deaf people. Missionaries. Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Paris, France.
Trim Size 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
JLG Span Winter
Language English
Rights type Print
Publication date 2023-11-06
JLG Release Date Jan 2024
Minimum grade 6
Maximum grade 8
Reading level Middle
Format Print
Upper Middle School Fiction Plus (Grades 6-8)
Upper Middle School Fiction Plus
Upper Middle School Fiction Plus (Grades 6-8)
For Grades 6-8
This collection features fiction titles selected for older middle school readers who are ready for longer, more layered stories that explore growing independence and changing perspective. Selections include realistic and speculative fiction with increased emotional and narrative complexity, offering stories that look beyond immediate experience and invite readers to engage with broader questions about identity, belonging, and the world around them.