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Sara Nović

@photonovic

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MOTHER TONGUE out now | also TRUE BIZ + GIRL AT WAR | deafie | they or she 🧏🏻🌈🤟🏼

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Despite—and a little because of—everything, I wrote this book, which I'm excited (and nervous!) to share with you this spring. MOTHER TONGUE, out 05/05/2026:

It’s a little bit memoir, a little bit cultural criticism, a little bit history. It’s about deafness, queerness, adoption, parenthood, religion, systemic oppression and white supremacy and sexism, disability, chronic illness and eugenics. It’s about the current state of our world, and joy in the face of all of it, how we build new selves and lives together between the cracks.

You can pre-order it from your favorite bookstore now. Or, check out my newsletter to learn more, including 5 totally free things you can do to support at https://buttondown.com/signs+wonders/archive/new-year-new-book/

Want even more info? Running an AMA up in my stories... starting right now!
Onward, friends 🤟🏼

OH! And book 🎨 by Kevin Quach🤩

ID: Stop animation of the ASL manual alphabet in white lines spells out "Mother Tongue". The frame zooms out to show a yellow book cover with the black text “Sara Novic Mother Tongue" filling the cover, the ASL letters on top. "Available 5.5.2026" appears below the cover image. by @photonovic

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9 months ago

If your product's selling point is, "now you can hear your own blood!" maybe you wanna workshop that puppy a little? Some thoughts and concerns about the newly announced "Totally Invisible Cochlear Implant" (TICI). Waterproof without the case I get as a big benefit, but do the new costs outweigh that benefit? Some food for thought.

Transcript pinned in comments. VD: Sara is a light skinned person with short hair and brown glasses wearing a grey Eagles sweatshirt, signing ASL. by @photonovic

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8 hours ago

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6 days ago

Taste the rainbow 🌈.

ID: overhead photo of baby in a high chair chewing on rainbow striped rubber fidget toy. by @photonovic

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11 days ago

Our 2026 Seattle Reads book is "True Biz" by @photonovic, who will visit Seattle on Sept. 25-26!

She recently discussed "True Biz" and Seattle Reads with @seattletimes. Read the full Q&A at the link in our bio (reprinted on our blog with permission). Also, congrats to Sara for being named a finalist for the National Book Award for her latest book "Mother Tongue", a current Peak Pick!

Thanks to our Seattle Reads partner @deafspotlight. Sponsored by donors of @support_spl @wallacefdn. Additional media support provided by @seattletimes.

Free and reduced access is supported by @kc4culture Logos for spl.org and Seattle Reads.

True Biz cover art.

Text reads:
"When I first finished a draft of True Biz and tried to sell it, there was a lot of concern about whether hearing people would read about the Deaf world...
"I am giddy that folks are connecting with the characters and world that may be, on the surface at least, different from theirs."
-Sara Nović, author of "True Biz," our 2026 Seattle Reads selection
From a Q&A with The Seattle Times by @photonovic

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12 days ago

oh no 🍁 🍂

ID: fallen leaf that is half green, half bright orange, nearly pink, on the concrete. by @photonovic

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12 days ago

You guyssssssssssssssss 👀 🤯

(Thank you, @nationalbookfoundation & judges. So honored to see MT among the absolutely ridiculous talent on this list🙏🏼)

ID: graphic with black background and white text saying 77th National Book awards at the top, nonfiction longlist on the bottom, with the yellow and black cover of Mother Tongue in the center. by @photonovic

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18 days ago

In celebration of Deaf Awareness Month I'm giving away a copy of the UK version of Mother Tongue--one of my favorite parts of publishing is seeing different countries' cover art, and this one is so pretty! Plus, the UK version has printed endnotes for nerds 🤓 (complimentary). Full transcript in comments.

How to Enter the Giveaway:
1. Be sure you're following me here @photonovic
2.Comment "Enter" to for one chance to win
3. Tag a friend for a bonus entry!

One (1) randomly selected winner will be chosen on 09.18.26. (US residents only) *This giveaway is not affiliated with Meta.*

#DeafinitelvBookish #DeafAwarenessMonth #DeafAuthors #DeafRep #TrueBiz less by @photonovic

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21 days ago

Land shark attends local soccer game.

ID: Sara wearing sunglasses and a hat and a baby carrier. The baby is covered by a, blue bucket hat with a fin, teeth and eyeballs on it. by @photonovic

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22 days ago

Happy Deaf Awareness Month! 💛 An occasion to celebrate Deaf culture, raise awareness about hearing loss, and advocate for accessibility in your community.

Today we're spotlighting MOTHER TONGUE, a beautiful memoir from Sara Nović, the New York Times bestselling author of TRUE BIZ, that retraces her path out of the hearing world and into the deaf community—and seeks to understand what it means to raise children who are different from her.

“In this enraging history and big-hearted family saga, Sara Nović has skillfully subverted the dividing lines of identity, her deafness becoming the thread that connects us all.” —Sierra Crane Murdoch, author of YELLOW BIRD by @photonovic

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24 days ago

Dregs of summer et al

ID: photo of a carnival ferris wheek and ticket booth with a crowd beneath against a bright blue sky with fluffy clouds. by @photonovic

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a month ago

Live footage from inside the CDC.

ID: overhead photo of baby looking at a board book
The book shows a picture of cookie monster trying to eat different items with the text "Don't eat that! Don't eat that! Don't eat this!" by @photonovic

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a month ago