Coming soon...

Position paper: What does it mean to read "diverse" literature?

Friday, December 7, 2007

I Have A Sister My Sister is Deaf.


Peterson, Jeanne Whitehouse. I Have A Sister My Sister is Deaf. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1977.


I Have A Sister My Sister is Deaf is a story about a girl talking about her sister. She talks about how her sister likes to do all of these different things that all kids like to do, but her sister is a little different because her sister loves to play the piano but cannot hear the tune. Her sister cannot hear her yell "Look Out". She talks about how she tries to understand what it is like not to be able to hear. She talks about how they are both afraid and how they both can talk but in different ways. She talks about how she talks to her friends about her sister.This book is written by Jeanne Peterson, she is considered to be an insider because her sister was also deaf.


This book is interesting in many aspects, the first being that the sister is trying to show to her friends how her sister can do all of the things that all kids love to do, but she does them a little bit different because she cannot sing, hear tunes, or talk. She talks about how they share the same emotions but at different times. I do think that the book could be seen differently if the illustrations were in color, it makes it seem like everything they do is dull and something is missing. The other thing that is interesting is that the sister is always pointing out things that she cannot do at the same time that she is pointing out all of the things that she can do. But at the same time she is doing this, it seems like she is looking out for her sister and feeling bad for her because she will never get to experience some things in life that other people take for granted. Overall, there are a few things that I like in this book, it would be a good book to read to an older sibling who has a younger sibling who is deaf so they can learn that their brother or sister will not be able to experience some of the same things as they do but they will also experience them in a different way.

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