You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P! (Scholastic Gold)

Interesting take on the DEAF community and otherwise marginalized people even for adults, although the book is written for children. It would be good to read together and talk about what happens with your family.

This book was perfect for my DHH reading class. It’s not often my students get to read books about Deafness. I loved how it touched on two major topics: Deaf culture and Black Lives matter, yet it was presented at a level any preteen/ teen could understand. It is a great fit for the kids in my class.

This book has kept my daughters attention. She stays out of my hair.

This book takes on both white privilege and issues having to do with Deaf culture, and I really appreciated the intersection. Some reviews have stated that it felt like the author was trying to do too much, but I didn’t feel it was unreasonable... real life is messy, and issues intersect all the time. I appreciated that about this book. The book itself was a bit slow at times... it was hard to stay focused through some of the fantasy world chats... but otherwise, the book was well written. I’d definitely mark this as *upper* middle grade, for some more mature themes. In addition to being a parent and a reader myself, one of the things that drew me to this book was the fact that I’m also an audiologist. I love seeing kids who sign or wear hearing aids/cochlear implants represented in children’s literature! And putting on my audiologist hat, I have a couple of things to add to my review that I didn’t feel were quite correct: (1) Jilly’s baby sister Emma fails her newborn hearing screening at the hospital, and Jilly’s first instinct is to start learning sign. Indeed, all of the main characters seem to assume that failing this screening means that Emma is deaf. There’s no mention of or allusion to a sedated ABR, which is the gold standard today in estimating the degree of hearing in an infant in which hearing loss is suspected, and comes after the screening (and after a couple more re-screens, often). Let me emphasize—it’s a WONDERFUL choice to learn how to sign to support a deaf/HOH baby. But sometimes, babies fail their newborn hearing screening because of fluid in their ears, which often resolves on its own. This is why rescreens and an ABR are important. Of the babies who do end up being diagnosed with permanent hearing loss, plenty have only a mild/moderate hearing loss, classifying them as “hard-of-hearing” and not “deaf”. While learning ASL is *never* a bad choice, hard-of-hearing children often do well with hearing aids and spoken language. I realize this seems like a trivial point, but hard-of-hearing kids get overlooked in literature too often, IMO. (2) At some point, a rep from the Deaf community tells the group of new hearing parents with deaf babies that it doesn’t matter *why* their baby is deaf. I get that this character is trying to help the parents embrace their new reality (and the Deaf community), but there are actually medical reasons it can be advantageous to try to determine the cause. There are a few rare conditions that hearing loss can be associated with, like heart defects and progressive blindness. They are RARE, but it’s helpful to rule them out. Also, if the baby was deafened because the mother contracted CMV, which is quite common, the child will continue to be contagious for the next five or so years, and could potentially have no outward symptoms. (3) Finally, the expectations in the book regarding outcomes with cochlear implants are somewhat outdated. Twenty years ago, it was realistic to expect little more than sound awareness from CIs, as the characters expect with Emma; but today, they’re absolutely a viable option. Learning to sign is always a good choice; but cochlear implants can also be a very helpful piece of the puzzle. It’s about what works best for an individual child and their family. I’d like to close by saying that, when I was in school for audiology, we were taught to provide *options* to the parents of deaf infants. No one I know would EVER recommend not waving to your baby or putting mittens on their hands so they can’t sign. That kind of thinking is backward. I’m sure audiologists like the horrible Ms. Slapp do exist today, but there are plenty of us out there who genuinely want to help, and to provide parents with options! All in all, a good book that raised some great issues.

One of my favorites!

Jilly Pirillo is a normal 12-year-old girl who loves books, especially the fantasy trilogy, Magically Mysterious Vidalia by B. A. Delacourt. On the official website for the series, De La Court, Jilly has made lots of friends of different ages, genders, skin colors, and disabilities, like deafness. After Jilly’s baby sister, Emma, is born deaf, and meets some of her friends from De La Court in real life, Jilly’s world is flipped upside down. With topics like racism and disabilities that separate people from each other, this book tells a fantastic story of how Jilly must adjust to her new life and figure out what she must do now and going forward after making mistakes that offend and hurt people. My favorite character was Jilly. She loves to read, just like me, and has a great personality! Even when things get hard and confusing, she finds a way to push through and resolve it all in the end. She faces many tough challenges, including how to be there for the people she cares about when they need it the most. Jilly represented and symbolized this book from my perspective. She is uplifting, smart, and thoughtful throughout the story. This book has many happy moments, is smart on how it approaches topics and weaves them into the story, and sad at many parts, too. One of this book’s best attributes is how it covers difficult, real life topics that are still going on like racism, LGBTQ+, and how people are viewed differently just because they have a disability. Jilly is Caucasian and hearing, while some of her De La Court friends are African American, deaf, and both. Some of Jilly’s racist family members and other family members, who are accidentally rude, offend her relatives and keep the family apart for special gatherings, even Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas! While these topics are uncomfortable to talk about for a lot of people, the author sheds light on these topics and even gives some ways to solve them and make them easier to talk about, all while telling a page-turning story. I gave this book 5 stars because it was a genuinely well-rounded book and one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I enjoyed reading a different type and genre of book, although I still love comedy, adventure, and mystery. I recommend this book for 11-15 year-olds, as well as adults. This book does have longer words and minor profanity, as well as topics that aren’t as meaningful and easy to understand at younger ages. I even recommended this book to my middle school’s library and the librarian thought it was great! Happy Reading! Review by Brooke Z., Age 11, Delaware Valley Mensa

Exciting Epic Every one deserves a chance. Lovely story Alex Gino, give yourself apart on the back! Well done I loved it

My daughter loved reading this book, arrived fast in perfect condition

great book

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