Review: Hear Me by Kerry O’Malley Cerra

About Hear Me

Hear Me by Kerry O’Malley Cerra
Published by Carolrhoda Books/Lerner Publishing INC.
Released on September 6, 2022
Reading Age: 10-14 years
Grade Level: 5-8
Genre: Middle-Grade Fiction
Pages: 344
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the Back of the Book:

One year after being diagnosed with hearing loss, Rayne’s hearing keeps getting worse, even with aids. It’s a struggle to maintain friendships and keep up in school, surfing is now a wipeout, and she can’t understand her favorite singer’s lyrics. But worst of all, Rayne’s parents are pushing for her to get cochlear implants, a surgery Rayne’s not convinced is worth the risks and challenges.

Rayne begs her parents to consider other options, but they’re not budging. With the surgery looming, Rayne sets off on a bus journey that forces her to face her own assumptions about what her hearing loss means and what kind of life she could have. With the help of some new friends, Rayne realizes that even though her ears may be broken, she is not.

My Thoughts

I Am Not Broken!

Rayne has begun to lose her hearing very rapidly after being diagnosed just a year ago. Things are progressing so rapidly that she is overwhelmed with the unexpected changes and it seems that she is not being heard by her parents.

As we all feel when a part of our body is not functioning the way it should, we get angry at it and feel that our body has betrayed us. Kerry’s writing of Rayne’s character as she went through this angst was done so well, that I shed some tears. I became Rayne, full of anger, frustration, denial, and a sense of helplessness.

As I read, I wrote, “It is getting almost as hard for me to read the book as it is for Rayne to hear. I am getting frustrated because I can’t figure out what some of those *** mean either!” The thing about this is that I could put down Hear Me and pick up another book and read it with no worries, that wasn’t the case for Rayne and my heart broke.

My heart also broke for the parents, who in turn are concerned about Rayne being in denial, becoming a recluse in her attempt to fight the inevitable. So, they also feel that they are not being heard.

As I agonized for and with Rayne, this book brought home to me the fact that hearing me is different than listening to me. You can listen to someone and not hear their point of view. Hear Me is–hear my voice, my opinion, my heart.

I don’t even have enough words to describe the brilliance of this book. It reminded me a bit of My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Piccoult. Both Rayne and Anna are around the same age, able to reason to a certain point and question the god-likeness of parental authority. Can they do this? Can they do that?

This story is about love working through difficult things to get to the truth of the matter, I am not broken!

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher. This review was written voluntarily.

About Kerry O’Malley Cerra

Kerry O’Malley Cerra is the author of the award-winning, middle-grade novel JUST A DROP OF WATER — published in September of 2014 by Sky Pony Press. It has won a Florida Book Award, the Crystal Kite Award, and was named to VOYAs Top Shelf Fiction for Middle Readers’ 2014 list. In addition, the book was a finalist for the 2015-2016 Maine Student Book Award, the 2017-2018 Garden State Teen Book Award (New Jersey), the 2016-2017 Truman Award list (Missouri), and the 2018 Nene Award (Hawaii). It won runner-up for the 2016-2017 Magnolia Award (Mississippi).

Her second novel, HEAR ME, was published on Sept. 6, 2022, by Carolrhoda Books/Lerner Publishing INC. Based on the author’s own hearing loss/deaf experience, this contemporary middle-grade novel follows 12-year-old Rayne who–at odds with her parents over her sudden hearing loss and looming cochlear implant surgery–sets off on a journey where she discovers that even though her ears may be broken, she is not.

Kerry holds a degree in Social Science Education from the University of South Florida and currently works in a high school as the media specialist/librarian where she’s thrilled to spend other people’s money on books for her students. She continues to use her teaching skills in author presentations at schools across the country.

Though she’ll always consider South Jersey/Philly her home, she currently lives in Florida with her husband and two poorly behaved rescue dogs.

You can find out more about her by visiting www.kerryomalleycerra.com