Handtalk School

By: Mary Beth Miller & George Ancona
Publisher: Four Winds Press, 1991
Age Level: 9-12
Language: English
ISBN: 0-02-700912-2

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Come visit our school! Some children take the bus to this school for deaf children; many others live there in the dormitory, a home away from home complete with house parents. But readers need only open the pages of Handtalk School to spend a school day with a group of residential students involved in the fun of putting on the Thanksgiving play.

From the moment Jen wakes up and signs, “Today’s our play,” the group is caught up in play fever–putting the finishing touches on the scenery in art class, being told a Thanksgiving story in sign language by the librarian, and holding a dress rehearsal during language class. American Sign Language (ASL) and beautiful full-color photographs show a typical full day for the children, from breakfast to gym, including a phone call home on a very special machine. This Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD), also called a Teletype (TTY), allows a deaf person to communicate over regular phone lines. Shira calls her parents to make sure they’re coming to the play-and they do, ending the day with a trip home for the holidays.