Belonging

This is a fictional but realistic story of a teenage girl who goes deaf after a sudden, very serious illness.Although it never says for sure, I assume from little clues here and there that its supposed to be set in the Mid 1980's.The story is not dated though and is timeless. The protagonist of the story-Gustie Blaine- may not be as perfect as her cheerleader friends, but she certainly had a lot going for her. Her deafness is as shocking and jarring to her as it would be to anyone and to the characters credit, she handles it with a lot of bravery and grace. The most central part of the story is that although she is the same person as she was before her deafness, eveyone around her treats her different. And most of the time, not very well. Her friends all abandon her and her former best friends of many years is especially cruel. An unsympathethic French teacher writers her an insulting, condecending note asking her to drop his class, even though she loves the language. People either tend to treat her as an annoyance or totally ignore her. Her Parents have no idea what she needs or when she needs it. Gustie is very likable which only makes her struggle more poignant. Luckily , though , she learns to find ways to communicate and start living with her deafness. And she finds a supportive friend, Boyfriend, and Teachers who help her find her way. This is a novel with important lessons to teach about bravery in the face of unfair,seemingly overwhelming odds, tolerance and kindness.

I found this book wonderful. It was a good look at the changes that occur in a girl's life when she becomes deaf after contracting meningitis. What I thought was especially well done was the internal conflict she experienced over "straddling" the deaf and hearing worlds, as well as the denial experienced by her parents about her hearing loss. If you can get a copy of this book, try to do it.

In "Belonging" this girl came up with a disease called Metingitis, she is now deaf and learns about deaf people. This book made me think that some people aren't as fortunate as us.