There's a lot going on in the novel - rock shows and interviews and best friend issues and new romance and rejection and family stuff - but it doesn't feel like too much. They're nicely fleshed out and add to the story without overwhelming it. I also loved all the secondary characters. And, really, when you read about the band, you can believe that they would choose the name Dumb for their band. It's briefly addressed in a conversation between Piper and her best friend (who is also deaf).
When I first found out that the book was about a girl with hearing impairment, I had concerns about the title. Her sister getting a cochlear implant is a big deal for her, and she has to sort out some complicated emotions that go along with it. The book deals with her struggles with the band - five very different teens, each with strengths and weaknesses - as she's dealing with other stuff, too. I was drawn to Piper right away - she's a sympathetic character, strong and sassy and a little self-deprecating. This is a story with a lot of heart and the tone's a really nice mix of humorous and serious. As Piper gets to know the five flavors of Dumb, she'll learn more about rock and roll and about herself than she ever would have guessed.
It's everything she wanted - her ticket to fame and fortune - but she'll have to get them a paying gig before the first month is over or she's fired. And somehow she ends up accepting a job as their manager.
She doesn't have to hear to know that they're completely not together, "all style, no substance". Maybe that's why she opens her big mouth after the newest winners of Seattle's Teen Battle of the Bands serenade everyone on the steps of the school one morning.
Piper feels like no one listens to what she has to say and now that her dream of going to Gallaudet University, a deaf college in DC, is on precarious ground, maybe no one ever will. And, worst of all, she finds out that her parents "borrowed" money from her college fund to pay for her baby sister's cochlear implants - surgical devices that will give hearing to Grace. Her dad refused to learn to sign when she lost her hearing at the age of six, even though it's how she prefers to communicate.
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