The Sound of Silence: Growing Up Hearing with Deaf Parents
VERDICT: Recommended
Concern Level: Low
Christian Parent Review
Concern LevelLow
Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content
The father in the story is referred to as a dummy more than once as that is how people refer to him since he cannot hear or speak. At his (the author’s) birth, his father “yelled at the sky like a banshee” which is defined by Merriam Webster as a female spirit whose wailing warns a family that one of them will soon die. The word Heck is present. We read comments along the lines of when it is said that the Brooklyn Dodgers hated the St. Louis Cardinals
VerdictRecommended
Our Thoughts
This book tells of the joys and hardships of a child growing up hearing with deaf parents and with a brother who suffers from epilepsy. In his home, the primary language is sign language and as his father’s eldest child, he takes on the responsibility of being his father’s ear and his brother’s caregiver, though he himself is still a child. Told by the author himself, he shares his upbringing on the streets of 1940s Brooklyn mentioning historical events such as World War II, Adolf Hitler’s master race, Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in segregated America and Polio. The story shares with the reader the life of one who lives with people with disabilities shunned by others and how that shapes him as he navigates the sometimes harsh reality of the outside world and the love of his family inside his home. It’s a story of a family bond, of a child growing as an independent man and of hope.
Plot SummaryNote: This information is typically from the publisher.Use with caution
An insightful memoir about growing up between the hearing and deaf worlds. Myron Uhlberg was born the hearing son of two deaf parents at a time when American Sign Language was not well established and deaf people were often dismissed as being unintelligent. In this moving and eye-opening memoir, he recalls the daily difficulties and hidden joys of growing up as the intermediary between his parents' silent world and the world of the hearing.
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Scripture Reflection
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
— Proverbs 2:1-6
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