Nice, Big, Hearing Heterosexual...NOT.

I'm sure you've all passed judgement on what this book is about just by glancing at the photo: a mean, little, and deaf queer. Don't judge a book by it's cover though, it may be awfully deceiving. Okay, so maybe the author Terry Galloway was mean as a child, and yes, she lost her hearing at the age nine due to her mother's use of experimental antibiotics for her kidney failure when she was in the womb, and yes, she is a lesbian. But that's beside the point. Galloway's memoir Mean Little Deaf Queer provides a powerful message of growing up in a variety of environments, which includes another country to what becomes a silent world. As moving as her story is, she is also quite the comedian, retelling her hystercial stories as a child, one of which includes her attempted drowning at a camp for crippled children; Galloway could be considered as the female version of Augusten Burroughs.

As a child, Galloway was what was considered normal. Her family lived in Germany, as her father was a spy for the US Army. Before she was born, her mother suffered from kidney failure, which forced doctors to use an experimental antibiotic on her, though they knew the side effects of the drug; however, they went ahead and used it because Galloway's mother was American. When Galloway was born, she was as perfect as any other child. When her family moved back to America, however, everything changed. She began to lose her hearing, as well as her vision, so she was forced to wear Coke-bottle glasses and hearing aids the size of a small box. She was limited in interaction with other children because of her necessary accessories, and it put her in an angry state of mind. To add on to her burdens, she began to feel a sexual attraction to girls, so she joined the school bullies so she could pick on the girls to be close to them. It is safe to say that she wasn't the most popular girl in school.

From her childhood, Galloway continues to illustrate her struggle with her identity, which meant decifering the difference from being Deaf and deaf, and being straight or a lesbian. She finds solace in her new-found crippled friends, and comes to realize that her unwanted qualities were what made her the mean, deaf queer that she is today.