Jazmine Crawford doesn’t make decisions. She doesn’t make
choices. She doesn’t make friends. Jazmine Crawford only wants one thing: to be
invisible. For Jazmine, it’s a lot easier to take out her hearing aid and drift along pretending that nothing’s wrong
than it is to admit that she’s heartbroken about her dad dying. She’s been
drifting and ignoring her over-worried mum for four years now.
When bad girl Shalini and her mates adopt Jazmine, she quickly finds herself involved in more than she can handle. Sitting in disgrace in the principal’s office, Jazmine is offered a choice: help drama teacher Miss Fraser in the upcoming production of The Secret Garden or face a four week suspension.
It’s Miss Fraser who clinches the decision. “I believe in you Jazmine,” she says. “I know you can do this.” And Jazmine, terrified, disbelieving and elated all at the same time, joins the play.
For a while it’s all good. Drama star and chocolate lover Liam is friendly and Jazmine realises that making friends, talking to her mother and feeling her emotions isn’t as scary as she thought. In a final happy twist of fate, acting diva Angela quits the play and with only a week to go, Miss Fraser asks Jazmine to take on the main role of Mary.
But then Shalini returns from her suspension. She’s out for payback, and she has just the ammunition she needs to force Jazmine to quit the play and go back to her old ways.
Will Jazmine be confident enough to stand up for herself against Shalini? Will Liam still like her if he finds out who she really is? And does she have the strength to face the truth about her father’s suicide?
When bad girl Shalini and her mates adopt Jazmine, she quickly finds herself involved in more than she can handle. Sitting in disgrace in the principal’s office, Jazmine is offered a choice: help drama teacher Miss Fraser in the upcoming production of The Secret Garden or face a four week suspension.
It’s Miss Fraser who clinches the decision. “I believe in you Jazmine,” she says. “I know you can do this.” And Jazmine, terrified, disbelieving and elated all at the same time, joins the play.
For a while it’s all good. Drama star and chocolate lover Liam is friendly and Jazmine realises that making friends, talking to her mother and feeling her emotions isn’t as scary as she thought. In a final happy twist of fate, acting diva Angela quits the play and with only a week to go, Miss Fraser asks Jazmine to take on the main role of Mary.
But then Shalini returns from her suspension. She’s out for payback, and she has just the ammunition she needs to force Jazmine to quit the play and go back to her old ways.
Will Jazmine be confident enough to stand up for herself against Shalini? Will Liam still like her if he finds out who she really is? And does she have the strength to face the truth about her father’s suicide?
My Review: When I read the description of this book I knew that I had to read it. Ever since I began watching the ABC Family show Switched At Birth, anything dealing with the deaf and ASL (American Sign Language) intrigues me. I immediately downloaded the (free) book onto my Kindle and began to read. I finished it in just two days! It was that good. It really opened my eyes to some of the harsh realities that a lot of hearing impaired kids deal with everyday. What I really like about how the author made Jazmine is that she didn't make her hearing impairment an excuse or a crutch that she relied on to get out of things. She was painted as a normal teenage girl, that yes had a hearing problem but she dealt with it just like any teenager would deal with something like brushing their teeth.
Although some of the scenes in the book were rushed, it was very well written and easy to follow. That's definitely one of the things that I look for in a good book, a story line that is easy to follow. This is a truly wonderful story about how someone can go from being invisible to being in the spotlight with just one simple little choice.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read!
This is a really kind review. I'd love to send you a copy of the sequel, nearly out. If you're interested, get in touch on cecilyapaterson [at] gmail.com
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