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Review: Sail Me Away Home by Ann Clare LeZotte

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Sail Me Away Home by Ann Clare LeZotte

Sail Me Away Home (Show Me a Sign #3)
Ann Clare LeZotte
Scholastic Press
Published on November 7, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Sail Me Away Home

This gripping, stand-alone story, set in the world of the award-winning SHOW ME A SIGN and SET ME FREE, shines a light on the origins of formal deaf education and celebrates the fullness of the Deaf experience.

As a young teacher on Martha’s Vineyard, Mary Lambert feels restless and adrift. So when a league of missionaries invites her to travel abroad, she knows it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Paris is home to a pioneering deaf school where she could meet its visionary instructors, Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc—and even bring back their methods to help advance formal deaf education in America!

But the endeavor comes at a cost: The missionaries’ plan to “save” deaf children is questionable at best—and requires Mary’s support. What’s more, the missionaries’ work threatens the Wampanoag and other native peoples’ freedom and safety. Is pursuing Mary’s own goals worth the price of betraying her friends and her own values?

So begins a feverish and fraught adventure, filled with cunning characters, chance encounters, and new friendships. Together with SHOW ME A SIGN and SET ME FREE, this stunning stand-alone story completes an unforgettable trilogy that will enrich your understanding of the deaf experience and forever alter your perspective on ability and disability.

My Review

I loved revisiting Mary and her family in their island community. In this book, it’s not a terrible crisis that pulls her away from home, but a growing awareness of how some people are marginalized or excluded. In part, this happens as she teaches school for her community, and the local leaders only agree to keep her on as a teacher if she refuses to allow Irish children into the classroom. Mary balks at this and finds a way around this ruling, but she feels stifled and angry at the cruelty of it.

In some ways, this is a gentler story than the previous two in the series. It still reveals to readers some of the prejudices the Deaf faced in the early 1800s. This time, we’re introduced to the development of a formal sign language and a formal school for the Deaf.

I liked getting to see those historical moments brought to life through a character as vibrant and creative as Mary is. I also loved that the whole story reads as if it were Mary’s journal. The chapters aren’t written as journal entries, but the tone felt like that to me. It feels as if she’s speaking directly to the reader, the way someone might write in a diary or journal.

On the whole, I think this is a great series and I’ve really enjoyed reading it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Mary is Deaf and speaks only in signs. Other characters are Deaf and speaking or Wampanoag tribe members.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Mary travels with some pretty judgy missionaries. They turn their noses up at other Christian churches and shun anyone they deem not holy enough. They also manipulate and pressure others or flat-out try to control them. There is some discussion about the harm this high-pressure mission work can cause to the communities it infiltrates by forcing indigenous people to convert. Mary also worries about the construction of a school near an indigenous village. She worries the children will be forced to give up their culture or not allowed to return home.

Violent Content
Someone attempts to kidnap Mary. A few members of Mary’s community say harsh, judgmental things to her. Mary faces some ableist and prejudiced treatment from her traveling companions. She tries to write some of it off as well-meaning ignorance, but some of it is deeply hurtful and harmful.

Drug Content
Someone brings Mary a breakfast tray containing a glass of champagne.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog. I received a free copy of SAIL ME AWAY HOME in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Set Me Free by Ann Clare LeZotte

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Set Me Free
Ann Clare LeZotte
Scholastic Press
Published September 21, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Set Me Free

Three years after being kidnapped and rendered a “live specimen” in a cruel experiment to determine the cause of her deafness, fourteen year old Mary Lambert is summoned from her home in Martha’s Vineyard to the mainland to teach a younger deaf girl to communicate with sign language. She can’t help but wonder, Can a child of eight with no prior language be taught?

Still, weary of domestic life and struggling to write as she used to, Mary pours all her passion into the pursuit of freeing this child from the prison of her isolation. But when she arrives at the manor, Mary discovers that there is much more to the girl’s story — and the circumstances of her confinement — than she ever could have imagined. Freeing her suddenly takes on a much greater meaning — and risk.

My Review

Wow. I just finished reading this book, and I feel like so much of it is still running through my head. First off, I have to note that the historical setting was totally immersive. The writing style, the descriptions, the word choice, all of that felt like it belonged in the time period in which the story is set, in the very early 1800s. I felt like I could perfectly picture the island community where Mary lives.

The story has a strong sense of mystery and adventure to it. Mary, still fresh from her own trauma, journeys to a far away estate to care for a young girl. She doesn’t know much about the girl’s condition or her past, and still less about the house and staff who live there. She meets staff members with secrets and prejudices. As she begins to understand what the real situation is, Mary only becomes more desperate to help the young girl achieve her freedom and independence.

The story world captivated me, and so did Mary and the girl she at first calls Ladybird. The relationship between those two girls felt real and powerful. They are student and teacher, but so much more than that, too. I feel like this story really honors the reflective experience that happens when someone sets out to teach or give something and in return receives and learns so much more than they expected.

Another favorite thing about this book for me is the section at the back that offers historical details and context for elements from the story as well as things which inspired the book. I loved getting to know those extra bits of history and seeing how they fit into the way the story was constructed or influenced the book.

Conclusion

Readers who enjoy historical fiction will love this book. It reminded me of books like THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE by Avi. I haven’t read SHOW ME A SIGN, also by Clare LeZotte, which tells the story of Mary’s kidnapping and escape from a scientist who uses her as a “live specimen” in his experiments, but it’s now really high on my reading list!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Mary is Deaf and lives on Martha’s Vineyard, a community in which one in four people are Deaf. Several other characters are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Minor characters are Native American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Mary is a Christian and prays and quotes the Bible in several places.

Violent Content
A girl wears a chain on her ankle, tying her to the floor. Mary notices bruises and scars and guesses at the brutal treatment of a young girl. Someone attacks Mary, trying to choke her.

Several characters make racist comments against Black or Native American characters and/or show prejudice against Deaf characters. Mary is quick to condemn those behaviors and to chastise herself when she doesn’t speak up.

Drug Content
A young girl is sedated against her will or without her knowledge. Mary speaks against this forcefully.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of SET ME FREE in exchange for my honest review.