Joss's Books

I was so excited when I read Joss's first book, Joss by Erin Falligent

I loved it.

I felt that it did a really good job of describing hearing loss and the kind of situations that can be more difficult with hearing loss.

The hearing loss was my favorite part. I liked that Joss could excel in so many things with a hearing loss.

I was so happy that Erin Falligent and American Girl did such a great job of depicting hearing loss.

I was less excited about Joss's urge to win a competition to meet a famous surfer, but I could relate to that because we all have role models we would love to meet. I liked how Joss worked together with her friends and family to meet her goal.


It took longer for me to get the second book from the library.

The second book, Joss: Touch the Sky, highlighted Joss's competitive nature even more.

At that point, I was kind of over it. I really wanted to read a book about Joss where she isn't obsessing over winning some competition.

In Joss: Touch the Sky, Joss is trying hard to win both a talent show competition and a cheerleading competition.

It was less relatable to me because she didn't want to win for the sake of meeting someone- she just wanted to win for the sake of winning.

I really wanted to read something where Joss isn't devoting every single minute to winning competitions, to the extent that she is willing to alienate her friends.

It was just too much of an obsession that I didn't really relate to, and I felt that it didn't make her as well rounded of a character as she could be.

*Spoiler*

I did like that Joss did not win all of her competitions in this Joss: Touch the Sky. Real life is like that.

If you want to read more children's books with hearing loss, I recommend El Deafo by CeCe Bell and Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly.