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Summary
Summary
A riveting standalone companion to the Schneider Family Book Award winner, Show Me a Sign by Deaf author and librarian, Ann Clare LeZotte.
"Instantly captivating...will keep readers hooked until the very end...A simultaneously touching and gripping adventure." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Full of adventure and twists...a gripping tale of historical fiction." -- Booklist
"Mary seems set to become a true hero-adventurer, an almost larger-than-life sleuth, teacher, and woman of action; and while the story's subject matter is serious in its engagement with history's ills, LeZotte conveys a sense of real enjoyment in having Mary disrupt...the prejudices and expectations of the status quo." -- The Horn Book
Three years after being kidnapped as a "live specimen" in a cruel experiment to determine the cause of her deafness, Mary Lambert has grown weary of domestic life on Martha's Vineyard, and even of her once beloved writing.
So when an old acquaintance summons her to an isolated manor house outside Boston to teach a young deaf girl to communicate, Mary agrees. But can a child of eight with no prior language be taught? And is Mary up to the task? With newfound purpose, Mary arrives only to discover that there is much more to the girl's story--and the circumstances of her confinement--than she ever could have imagined. Suddenly, teaching her and freeing her from the prison of her isolation, takes on much greater meaning, and peril.
Riveting and complex, delicately nuanced and fervently feminist, Set Me Free is a masterful stand-alone companion to Show Me a Sign , and a searing exposé of ableism, racism, and colonialism that will challenge you to think differently about the dignity and capacity within every human being.
Author Notes
Ann Clare LeZotte is a completely deaf and bilingual-bicultural (ASL/English) member of the Deaf community, and an essential voice for Deaf / HOH, disabled, and marginalized youth. She is the author of the Schneider Family Book Award-winning novel Show Me a Sign , which was named a best book of the year by NPR, Kirkus Reviews , School Library Journal , the New York Public Library, the Chicago Public Library, and American Indians in Children's Literature, as well as its stand-alone companions Set Me Free and Sail Me Away Home . Ann worked for many years as a youth librarian before becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up--In this sequel to Show Me a Sign (2020), the action finds Deaf protagonist Mary Lambert three years after the events of the previous volume. She is now 14 and much closer to adulthood in her early 19th-century world. Raised in a real community on Martha's Vineyard where historically a significant portion of the population was Deaf and using a precursor of ASL, Mary, who is white, has therefore lived a life somewhat protected from assumptions of the era about Deaf people. Yet she is aware that when she leaves her hometown, the world has a very different perception of her based on their inability to speak her language. Mary returns to the Boston area to act as a tutor to a young girl who is also unable to communicate and is believed to be Deaf. She finds her student to be, in reality, a prisoner. Ultimately, Mary determines that she must rescue the girl. Getting them both to safety requires help from others, but also her own courage and self-advocacy. Full of unique detail about the experience of interacting with the world as a Deaf person (the author is also Deaf), this historical novel will serve as a helpful window book for non-Deaf readers, but also a much-needed mirror book for those who are Deaf. Historical endnotes make clear how much research went into doing justice to the setting and the characters outside of the author's lived experience, including those characters who are members of the Wampanoag Nation. VERDICT An excellent addition to any children's or tween historical fiction collection, especially where Show Me a Sign has been popular.--Kristin Lee Anderson, Jackson County Lib. Svcs., OR
Horn Book Review
In this sequel to Show Me a Sign (rev. 9/20), deaf, signing Mary, now fourteen, once again leaves her home on Martha's Vineyard -- where being deaf and signing is part of the established culture -- for Boston and environs, a world in which deafness is considered monstrous or, at best, pitiable. Mary has taken up a request that she teach language to a seemingly non-lingual, deaf child of an affluent family. When she arrives at their manor, she finds her charge locked away and the household governed by an abusive butler. As Mary experiments with teaching methods, she realizes that her student's condition is quite different than was supposed, and in an audacious act of rescue returns the child to her proper home. Throughout, as in the previous novel, LeZotte sensitively interweaves and illuminates historical, white attitudes toward deaf people, the Wampanoag people, and the Black population, all the while championing Mary's forthright insistence that all be treated with respect. Mary seems set to become a true hero-adventurer, an almost larger-than-life sleuth, teacher, and woman of action; and while the story's subject matter is serious in its engagement with history's ills, LeZotte conveys a sense of real enjoyment in having Mary disrupt (a little anachronistically, perhaps) the prejudices and expectations of the status quo. Deirdre F. Baker November/December 2021 p.106(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Mary Lambert survived her own harrowing kidnapping and escape in Show Me a Sign (2020), but now there is another Deaf girl in captivity who needs her help. Fourteen-year-old Mary still has trauma from her ordeal, but she is growing up and becoming more curious about the world outside her White, signing community on Martha's Vineyard. She is offered a job as a private tutor for a young Deaf girl in Waltham, but she arrives to find the child, whom she nicknames Ladybird, chained up and living in filth, cared for by a butler who is much more concerned with keeping family secrets than the girl's welfare. Though the characters are multifaceted, Mary and Ladybird's relationship remains frustratingly shallow throughout. Mary's initial role as a teacher is abandoned as she becomes a rescuer, so readers do not get to see what Ladybird is capable of learning, only what she has had taken from her. Nevertheless, the story remains exciting and heartfelt throughout. Mary and her world are instantly captivating, and her daring rescue mission will keep readers hooked until the very end. In addition to the central themes of ableism and language deprivation, LeZotte naturally weaves in social issues of the time that still resonate today, including racism, colorism, feminism, and colonialism. Readers who enjoyed the previous title will be particularly delighted to read about Mary's further adventures. A simultaneously touching and gripping adventure. (additional information) (Historical fiction. 9-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Three years after the events of Show Me a Sign (2020), Mary is still recovering from her traumatic kidnapping and wondering what is next for her. When she receives a letter inquiring if she would be able to help a young deaf girl on the mainland, Mary decides she is up for the challenge of teaching sign language. Yet when Mary arrives, she discovers the girl is kept in chains and treated horribly by the staff in a household that has many secrets. In this story full of adventure and twists, LeZotte never shies away from addressing racism, ableism, or sexism. Despite its early-nineteenth-century setting, many of the book's themes resonate today, as Mary fights for the rights of all people and offers hope to readers facing challenges. The author's note at the end gives details on the research and factual portions of the story. A gripping tale of historical fiction.
