Deer Run Home

Gr 4-9–Effie’s first language is American Sign Language (ASL), but no one in her family takes the time to learn it. When she and her sister move in with their dad and her two best friends leave for a residential school, Effie is alone and unable to communicate fluently with anyone around her. She mourns for her neighborhood deer displaced by new construction and wonders if there is a place in the world for her as well. When school starts and her ASL interpreter gets permission for Effie to live with her for a month, a whole new world opens to Effie—a world where she is heard, valued, and worthy. What will happen when this month of bliss comes to an end? This novel in verse blends ASL grammar with English, infuses appalling circumstances with poetry, and elegantly weaves a heartbreaking story with hope. LeZotte shares some of her own experiences as a member of the d/Deaf community and draws on an actual custody case for inspiration, discussed in two different author’s notes, one before and one after Effie’s story. The themes of found family, abuse, neglect, conservation, friendship, independence, and self-worth are faced head-on, with grace and dignity. Readers of all ages will cry with Effie as she struggles to be heard and celebrate each victory as she learns how to make the world around her understand what she deserves.