“Anyone who is dDeaf . . . will immediately feel a connection and a sense of belonging while reading Asphyxia's book.” —Stacy Abrams, founder of the #WhyISign campaign • Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award for Teens 2021 • A Kirkus Best Book of 2021

Part coming of age, part call to action, this fast-paced novel about a Deaf teenager by a Deaf author is a unique and inspiring exploration of what it means to belong.

Smart, artistic, and independent, sixteen year old Piper is tired of trying to conform. Her mom wants her to be “normal,” to pass as hearing, to get a good job. But in a time of food scarcity, environmental collapse, and political corruption, Piper has other things on her mind—like survival.

Piper has always been told that she needs to compensate for her Deafness in a world made for those who can hear. But when she meets Marley, a new world opens up—one where Deafness is something to celebrate, and where resilience means taking action, building a com-munity, and believing in something better.

Published to rave reviews as Future Girl in Australia (Allen & Unwin, Sept. 2020), this empowering, unforgettable story is told through a visual extravaganza of text, paint, collage, and drawings. Set in an ominously prescient near future, The Words in My Hands is very much a novel for our turbulent times.