As posted in [http://www.amazon.com]:I thought that *Belonging* was an ok book. This book dwelt too much on Gustie's dealings with her newfound deafness. At 15, Gustie encounters spinal meningitis, which resulted with her being deaf. Of course, intially, she deals with this consequence with anger. Next, she deals with her fluctuating hearing loss by trying to lip-read and experimenting with a hearing aid. At the same time, her friendship with Sara, Dana and others have have changed. They are simply not comfortable with Gustie's deafness and do not want to bother with repeating themselves. However, she is not completely lost. She finds solace with her Latin teacher, her notetaker and her new boyfriend, who has a Deaf brother and sister-in-law. There is no mention of sign language or the Deaf culture until the last quarter of the book. Even then, Gustie doesn't really take advantage of it except learning fingerspelling. She is hesitant about Deaf people because she has some stereotyped perception of the Deaf. *Belonging* is about a teenaged girl's struggle with a hearing loss, which turns her world upside down. She loses some friends but gains new friends. Meanwhile, she has to adjust in order to stay on top of school. She's rewarded with a new boyfriend who understands her plight and gives her valuable insights. In the end, she finally musters up the courage to tell people, especially her parents, how she wants to be treated.
