Name: Future Girl
ISBN: 9781760294373

Asphyxia

Future Girl explores what it means to come of age as a Deaf teenager, against the backdrop of a near-future Melbourne on the brink of environmental catastrophe.

Future Girl

Piper's mum wants her to be 'normal', to pass as hearing and get a good job. But when peak oil hits and Melbourne lurches towards environmental catastrophe, Piper has more important things to worry about, such as how to get food. When she meets Marley, a CODA (child of Deaf adult), a door opens into a new world - where Deafness is something to celebrate rather than hide, and where resilience is created through growing your own food rather than it being delivered on a truck. As she dives into learning Auslan, sign language that is exquisitely beautiful and expressive, Piper finds herself falling hard for Marley. But Marley, who has grown up in the Deaf community yet is not Deaf, is struggling to find his place in the hearing world. How can they be together? Future Girl is the art journal of sixteen-year-old Piper, a visual extravaganza of text, paint, collage and drawings, woven into a deeply engaging coming-of-age story set in near-future Melbourne. 'A life-changing book for young Deaf and disabled people...demonstrating the importance of the #OwnVoices movement.' CARLY FINDLAY, OAM 'Asphyxia's work is brilliant: a deep, original insight, and a book that everyone should read.' JACKIE FRENCH, AM 'Asphyxia tilts the world sideways and invites you to see what was always there. Don't miss this book.' AMIE KAUFMAN 'Future Girl captures the...amazing feeling of belonging to a culture with its own language, community, history and traditions.' DRISANA LEVITZKE-GRAY, Young Australian of the Year 2015 'Beautiful, immersive...a sensory feast.' JACLYN MORIARTY 'I really enjoyed this gorgeous book and related to so many things. That is rare. I can't wait for the world to read Future Girl.' ANNA SEYMOUR 'Future Girl confronts the challenges ahead of us and will open minds and hearts to the possibility of other worlds.' SEAN WILLIAMS

Thomas Rock

Future Melbourne where a teenage deaf girl is radicalised into saving the ecosystem and incites rebellion through her art, what else could you want?

Featured on bec&books!

Future Girl is a truly unique and impactful book that should absolutely be celebrated. This ownvoices, #LoveOzYA young adult story explores environmental disaster, the impact of the consumer, navigating the world as a young Deaf person, and the effect of finding your community.

First thing is first - the book itself is gorgeous. Asphyxia has not only created a story, but she has created a visual experience for her readers. Piper, our main character, is an talented artist. This plays a part in her character development throughout the story, but it also is the basis for the art journal-esque format the story is enveloped in.

Not only does this embody the story beautifully, but I think it is something to draw in young readers who may not actively consider a book full of representation and environmental considerations otherwise.

The story itself is something different to every other dystopian I have picked up. It is raw and personal and something that - terrifyingly - could actually occur in our current society. There is a legitimacy throughout the entire book that makes you stop and think about your own actions and consequences. 

I was really impressed and appreciative with how Asphyxia intuitively includes small teachable moments throughout the book, through plot points or accompanying illustrations. 

Not only did this reignite my desire to practice the little Auslan that I know - Asphyxia has some fantastic tools on her own website - but I also learnt how to create compost from scratch.

I absolutely recommend checking out the sampler provided by the publisher on Scribd, it is blindingly gorgeous and will absolutely convince you this something you want to own and experience yourself.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of this book. This does not impact my opinions, whatsoever.

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

3.5 stars.
Set in near future dystopian Melbourne, Future Girl follows Piper, a Deaf girl whose mother wants her to fit in and be “normal”, as she navigates the world as it falls apart around her. There are food shortages, her mum loses her job, and they struggle to find their way in this new world. Piper slowly creates a new life with “wild food”, meeting other Deaf people, building a community garden in her street, all the while trying to learn sign language and find a place for herself in the world. 
At times, her mother treats her quite badly, yelling at her when she doesn’t put her hearing aids in, always correcting her speech and pronunciations, and when she learns that Piper is using sign language, gets angry at her. And while Piper does come across as quite naive sometimes, but she is also a brave, strong, willing young woman, trying to make the best out of the scary new world she finds herself in. As an aside, I did think the graphic depictions of animal death/killings felt a tad unnecessary.
The book also features some of the most breathtakingly beautiful pages of artwork that I had to stop reading and just stare at the them.
Future Girl is a deeply empathetic and thoughtful #ownvoices novel, which will open so many hearts.

Future Girl

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