Deaf Not Deaf

Rian is starting her sixth grade year in a new home and at a new school in Northeast Philadelphia. On her first day, she is greeted by Shack, the class bully, who wastes no time breaking one of her cochlear implants. She’s used to feeling like an outsider, but nothing could prepare her for life at John Hancock Elementary. Her teachers can’t pronounce her name, the “normal” kids think she’s Deaf and the Deaf kids think she’s a joke, especially Luis Rodriguez, a Deaf boy who uses American Sign Language to communicate with his small circle of family and friends.