Author and librarian Ann Clare LeZotte is deaf, so this story of a deaf girl living in community that is half deaf and half hearing on Martha’s Vineyard is born out of the author’s own experiences, for what that is worth. I do think it’s always enlightening to read “own voices” stories when they are available and well written.

The story takes place in the early 1900’s when there actually was such a community of mixed hearing and non-hearing persons living together on Martha’s Vineyard. This community used their own version of sign language (MVSL) to communicate, and that sign language formed part of the basis for ASL (American Sign Language) years later in the mid-nineteenth century.

Mary Lambert, the protagonist of the story, is a deaf girl who has grown up up safe and protected in little island community. Nevertheless, before the story opens, Mary’s family has experienced a devastating tragedy: Mary’s brother George died in accident. And no one else knows that the accident was Mary’s fault. George saved her life at the expense of his own.

Mary’s mother particularly doted on George, and Mary is unsure about whether her mother truly loves and cares for her, now that George is gone. At this point the story veers off into the coming of a stranger to the community, a stranger who wants to study the deaf people on the island and find out “what’s wrong with them.” The problem is the stranger’s prejudices; the islanders, hearing or not, don’t think anything is wrong with being deaf.

This novel definitely gives new perspectives on both deafness and Native American attitudes and culture. (Some of the minor characters in the book are Wampanoag, and the author goes to great lengths to write about the Wampanoag respectfully and accurately.) About halfway through Something Bad happens, and the story gets exciting. I really did enjoy and learn from reading this book about a place and time in history that was previously unknown to me.

However, there are some weaknesses in the book. It starts off slow and veers off onto various rabbit trails that ultimately go nowhere. What is the point of the Wampanoag servant characters, father and daughter, who work for Mary’s father and Mary’s best friend’s family? In fact, what is the point of pages and pages about Mary and her best friend, Nancy and their escapades? Why do the two friends apologize to each other at the end of the book? (Maybe I missed something?) The ending itself went on way too long, several chapters of getting home and tearful reunion. And yes, the setting and characters were unique and interesting, but the friendships in the story were odd and unfocused.