Silent Night

I read this book for my American Sign Language class and loved it. I bought a signed copy and read it again just for fun. Sue Thomas is truly inspirational and her life story is hard to put down. It shows exactly how she dealt with growing up deaf in a hearing world. I would recommend this book to anyone.

A Review by KThe book "Silent Night" is an autobiography of a woman named Sue Thomas finding her way through the big world with her invisible but life changing culture. When she was only eighteen months old, she went deaf. Instead of learning sign language, she learns how to speak and read lips. She went to a regular school, learned how to ice skate, play the piano and even work in the F.B.I. Though overcoming many obstacles, all she is really focused on is bridging the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds. I like how moving the book is. After reading it, I got a new out-look on life. The author really goes in depth of what happened in her life. The things I knew about Thomas before I read this book, I could see coming. But what I didn't know was what I was missing until I turned to that page. I could easily tell when the mood of the words changed, when to laugh or when to cry. There was much dialogue in the book too, which really brought out the humor, or the seriousness in her words. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a true inspiring story. Though this book is for all ages, I wouldn't recommend this book to younger children because of some adult situations that happen in Thomas' life.

Since I am a fan of Sue Thomas, FBEye, I wanted to read the story behind the series. "Silent Night" does not give as much insight on her job at the FBI as I thought it would. However, it does tell the inspirational story of a woman who through God's grace, became a productive Christian. The book goes into the trauma of loosing her hearing and the abuse she suffered. Some of what she endured was directly related to her deafness and some was physical abuse (from a family "friend"). The book is open about her abuse and poor lifestyle choices, though not explicit. However, parents may not want their young children reading the book. Since the book is out of print, I asked my public library to obtain a copy of the book through an interlibrary loan. I paid a small fee for that service.