Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love

#296
Title: Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of LoveAuthor: Myron Uhlberg
Publisher: Bantam
Year: 2009
232 pages

A sweet but not treacly memoir by a hearing son of deaf parents. Uhlberg nicely balances characterizations of his parents' speech (particularly his father's) as beautiful, visual, and expressive against the limitations imposed on them by a hearing world that sees them as unintelligent. He also articulates well his frustration at having to act as their translator and to serve in a parentified role, especially in relation to his younger brother, who had epilepsy. A good memoir to teach with as the family members' multiple identities (e.g., deaf and Jewish) highlight the complexity of characterizing people solely be reference to their most evident characteristics.