100 books like Train Go Sorry

By Leah Hager Cohen,

Here are 100 books that Train Go Sorry fans have personally recommended if you like Train Go Sorry. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Song for a Whale

María José Fitzgerald Author Of Turtles of the Midnight Moon

From my list on animal and nature-loving-empaths who are curious.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up near the outskirts of a lush Honduran cloud forest, I remember searching for magic in the woods, a fairy behind the waterfall, and an emerald quetzal bird in the canopy. I have always been a lover of nature, ecology, and wildlife, and I appreciate how each of these five books speaks to the passion that I have for ecology in a unique way. From fantastical rabbits to hidden systems we all rely on, to turtles and whales and the entire animal kingdom, these books will resonate with those of us who believe that we each have a place in our interconnected planet.

Maria's book list on animal and nature-loving-empaths who are curious

María José Fitzgerald Why did Maria love this book?

As someone who has always connected with animals, wild and domesticated, Song for a Whale was a story I could not put down.

Lynne Kelly’s middle grade novel about a deaf girl determined to help a whale who cannot communicate with its family is full of heart and compassion, and it kept me on my toes until the very end. I love stories with brave, unique, and realistic protagonists, and Iris was all of these things.

I appreciated the deaf representation, and the theme of family that is woven so beautifully into the plot. I could picture the whale, Blue 55, so perfectly, and the short chapters in the whale’s POV were the cherry on top of an already lovely story of courage and connection. 

By Lynne Kelly,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Song for a Whale as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

A stirring and heart-warming tale of a young deaf girl who is determined to make a difference, the perfect read for fans of Wonder.

Iris was born deaf, but she's never let that define her; after all, it's the only life she's ever known. And until recently she wasn't even very lonely, because her grandparents are both deaf, too. But Grandpa has just died and Grandma's not the same without him. The only place Iris really feels at home anymore is in her electronics workshop where she loves taking apart antique radios.

Then, during a science lesson about sound waves,…


Book cover of Dad, Jackie, and Me

Michael Thal Author Of The Lip Reader

From my list on effect of deafness and understanding deaf people.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a teacher when I awoke one morning to an unnatural silence. The ENT specialist said the rare virus would return and I’d become deaf one day. Six years later he was proven right, and I had to accept disability because I couldn’t understand my students. I took American Sign Language classes at a local community college, and I taught myself to write. I penned six novels; two about deafness. At the turn of the century, I met Jila, an amazing deaf woman. She told me stories about growing up deaf and Jewish in Iran. After her death from colon cancer, I put her stories together and novelized her life in The Lip Reader.

Michael's book list on effect of deafness and understanding deaf people

Michael Thal Why did Michael love this book?

As a deaf man, I’ve run into people who refuse to talk to me because of their prejudices toward deaf people. This includes my own brother, friends, and cousins.

Prejudice in American society is ubiquitous. No one knew this better than Myron Uhlberg’s father, a deaf man. When Branch Rickie decided to break the color barrier in baseball by hiring Jackie Robinson as the starting first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Mr. Uhlberg understood immediately the difficulties the ballplayer would encounter from racist athletes and fans. Though Uhlberg knew nothing about baseball, he became one of Robinson’s adoring fans at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York during the 1947 baseball season.

Myron and his father visited Ebbets Field frequently during Robinson’s rookie year. Author Myron Uhlberg and illustrator Colin Bootman produce an emotionally packed picture book kids can understand and learn about diversity in their award-winning picture book, Dad, Jackie,…

By Myron Uhlberg, Colin Bootman (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dad, Jackie, and Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award

A young boy and his deaf father bond over baseball as they root for Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers to win the pennant. 

It was Opening Day, 1947. And every kid in Brooklyn knew this was our year. The Dodgers were going to go all the way!
 
In the summer of 1947, a highly charged baseball season is underway.  The new first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson, is the first Black player in Major League Baseball--- and it looks like the team might have what it takes to get to the…


Book cover of Deaf Culture, Our Way: Anecdotes from the Deaf Community

Michael Thal Author Of The Lip Reader

From my list on effect of deafness and understanding deaf people.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a teacher when I awoke one morning to an unnatural silence. The ENT specialist said the rare virus would return and I’d become deaf one day. Six years later he was proven right, and I had to accept disability because I couldn’t understand my students. I took American Sign Language classes at a local community college, and I taught myself to write. I penned six novels; two about deafness. At the turn of the century, I met Jila, an amazing deaf woman. She told me stories about growing up deaf and Jewish in Iran. After her death from colon cancer, I put her stories together and novelized her life in The Lip Reader.

Michael's book list on effect of deafness and understanding deaf people

Michael Thal Why did Michael love this book?

The pandemic ended Deaf bowling and morning breakfasts with Deaf friends. Having more to learn about the culture is why I read Deaf Culture Our Way: Anecdotes from the Deaf Community. Many of the stories recalled things that happened to me since becoming deaf.

Like many deaf people, I feel the dashboard of my car to make sure it has started. At noisy family gatherings I remove my hearing aids for blessed silence. I also capitalize on my deafness when visiting my brother in Atlanta. Before boarding a plane, I let the gatekeeper know I’m deaf and she always lets me on first. (Deafness has its perks.)

If you have a deaf relative, friend, or just interested in Deaf Culture, or learning ASL, read Deaf Culture Our Way: Anecdotes from the Deaf Community. It’s an eye-opener.

By Roy Holcomb, Samuel Holcomb, Thomas Holcomb , Frank Paul (illustrator) , Valerie Nelson-Metlay (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Deaf Culture, Our Way as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Using humorous stories with illustrations, this classic collection brings deaf culture to life through personal experiences and practical day-to-day information. Various aspects of the deaf world are illuminated through anecdotes, updated in this edition to include new stories about the foibles of the latest communication technologies, including VRS, videophones, email, and instant messaging. Also provided is classroom material for teachers that can be used as excellent supplemental reading for deaf studies, ASL, or interpreting classes, as well as a springboard for discussions about deaf culture.


Book cover of Signing Everyday Phrases: More Than 3,400 Signs

Michael Thal Author Of The Lip Reader

From my list on effect of deafness and understanding deaf people.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a teacher when I awoke one morning to an unnatural silence. The ENT specialist said the rare virus would return and I’d become deaf one day. Six years later he was proven right, and I had to accept disability because I couldn’t understand my students. I took American Sign Language classes at a local community college, and I taught myself to write. I penned six novels; two about deafness. At the turn of the century, I met Jila, an amazing deaf woman. She told me stories about growing up deaf and Jewish in Iran. After her death from colon cancer, I put her stories together and novelized her life in The Lip Reader.

Michael's book list on effect of deafness and understanding deaf people

Michael Thal Why did Michael love this book?

Whenever I need an ASL translation of an English word or phrase I check Signing Everyday Phrases. It provides the Manual Alphabet and breaks the book into chapters like “Home, Family, and Friends,” “Leisure and Sports,” “Time, Weather, and Holidays,” and a lot more. If you need the sign for a word, check the Index, and you’ll find it there. The book provides pictures of the sign and below that, a printed explanation. If you are learning ASL basics, this book will be a huge help. 

By Mickey Flodin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Signing Everyday Phrases as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Inside Deaf Culture

Donna Jo Napoli Author Of In a Flash

From my list on deaf culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Years ago, I visited a school for the deaf to see how the children learn to read. It opened my eyes: It is exceedingly difficult to learn to read a language you cannot hear. I am a linguist and a writer for children. So this experience lit a fire under me – I wanted to learn about the deaf experience, sign languages, and what sorts of ways I might be able to support the effort to learn to read. I now analyze sign languages, work with a team to advocate for deaf children’s language rights, and am co-director of the RISE project, producing videobooks for deaf children and their families.

Donna's book list on deaf culture

Donna Jo Napoli Why did Donna love this book?

This book looks at the history of hearing people’s attitudes toward deaf people and sign languages in America over the past two centuries, and how those attitudes and the social institutions that stem from them have affected the ways deaf people see themselves. Despite the suppression of their language, deaf signers managed to keep American Sign Language alive through clubs and theater. Today, sign languages have achieved recognition of their full status as natural human languages.

By Carol Padden, Tom Humphries,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Inside Deaf Culture as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this absorbing story of the changing life of a community, the authors of Deaf in America reveal historical events and forces that have shaped the ways that Deaf people define themselves today. Inside Deaf Culture relates Deaf people's search for a voice of their own, and their proud self-discovery and self-description as a flourishing culture.

Padden and Humphries show how the nineteenth-century schools for the deaf, with their denigration of sign language and their insistence on oralist teaching, shaped the lives of Deaf people for generations to come. They describe how Deaf culture and art thrived in mid-twentieth century…


Book cover of Deaf Culture: Exploring Deaf Communities in the United States

Donna Jo Napoli Author Of In a Flash

From my list on deaf culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Years ago, I visited a school for the deaf to see how the children learn to read. It opened my eyes: It is exceedingly difficult to learn to read a language you cannot hear. I am a linguist and a writer for children. So this experience lit a fire under me – I wanted to learn about the deaf experience, sign languages, and what sorts of ways I might be able to support the effort to learn to read. I now analyze sign languages, work with a team to advocate for deaf children’s language rights, and am co-director of the RISE project, producing videobooks for deaf children and their families.

Donna's book list on deaf culture

Donna Jo Napoli Why did Donna love this book?

The authors explore the complexity of deaf identities, looking at race, sexual behavior/orientation, disability, and the range of different experiences deaf people have, from being born into a family that signs to not even learning about sign languages until they are (nearly) adults.

By Irene Leigh, Jean Andrews, Raychelle Harris , Topher Gonzáles Ávila

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Deaf Culture as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A contemporary and vibrant Deaf culture is found within Deaf communities, including Deaf Persons of Color and those who are DeafDisabled and DeafBlind. Taking a more people-centered view, the second edition of Deaf Culture: Exploring Deaf Communities in the United States critically examines how Deaf culture fits into education, psychology, cultural studies, technology, and the arts. With the acknowledgment of signed languages all over the world as bona fide languages, the perception of Deaf people has evolved into the recognition and acceptance of a vibrant Deaf culture centered around the use of signed languages and the communities of Deaf peoples.…


Book cover of The Deaf Way II Anthology: A Literary Collection by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Writers

Donna Jo Napoli Author Of In a Flash

From my list on deaf culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Years ago, I visited a school for the deaf to see how the children learn to read. It opened my eyes: It is exceedingly difficult to learn to read a language you cannot hear. I am a linguist and a writer for children. So this experience lit a fire under me – I wanted to learn about the deaf experience, sign languages, and what sorts of ways I might be able to support the effort to learn to read. I now analyze sign languages, work with a team to advocate for deaf children’s language rights, and am co-director of the RISE project, producing videobooks for deaf children and their families.

Donna's book list on deaf culture

Donna Jo Napoli Why did Donna love this book?

This has poetry, essays, short stories, and a play, all by internationally acclaimed deaf writers.  These give you a starting point. From there, you need to take a sign language course and start watching videos of deaf poems, stories, and jokes. What a grand world of wonder awaits you!

By Tonya M. Stremlau,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Deaf Way II Anthology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Deaf Way II Anthology brings together stellar contributions by 16 international writers who are deaf or hard of hearing. This remarkable collection features poetry, essays, short stories, and one play, all of which offer thought-provoking perspectives on elements from the personal universes of these gifted authors. Many are United States writers well-known for their past publications, such as Douglas Bullard, Willy Conley, Christopher Heuer, and Raymond Luczak, while the outstanding work of John Lee Clark, volume editor Tonya Stremlau, Melissa Whalen, and several others have been collected for the first time in this volume. The international contributions further distinguish…


Book cover of Fighting in the Shadows: Untold Stories of Deaf People in the Civil War

Donna Jo Napoli Author Of In a Flash

From my list on deaf culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Years ago, I visited a school for the deaf to see how the children learn to read. It opened my eyes: It is exceedingly difficult to learn to read a language you cannot hear. I am a linguist and a writer for children. So this experience lit a fire under me – I wanted to learn about the deaf experience, sign languages, and what sorts of ways I might be able to support the effort to learn to read. I now analyze sign languages, work with a team to advocate for deaf children’s language rights, and am co-director of the RISE project, producing videobooks for deaf children and their families.

Donna's book list on deaf culture

Donna Jo Napoli Why did Donna love this book?

Deaf people served as soldiers, nurses, cooks, even spies during the American Civil War. This book celebrates their bravery and how they applied their skills to fight for what they believed in.

By Harry G. Lang,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Fighting in the Shadows as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This visually rich volume presents Harry G. Lang's groundbreaking study of deaf people's experiences in the Civil War. Based on meticulous archival research, Fighting in the Shadows reveals the stories of both ordinary and extraordinary deaf soldiers and civilians who lived during this transformative period in American history. Lang documents the participation of deaf soldiers in the war, whose personal tests of fortitude and perseverance have not been previously explored. There were also many deaf people in noncombat roles whose stories have not yet been told clerks and cooks, nurses and spies, tradespeople supporting the armies, farmers supplying food to…


Book cover of Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood

Donna Jo Napoli Author Of In a Flash

From my list on deaf culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Years ago, I visited a school for the deaf to see how the children learn to read. It opened my eyes: It is exceedingly difficult to learn to read a language you cannot hear. I am a linguist and a writer for children. So this experience lit a fire under me – I wanted to learn about the deaf experience, sign languages, and what sorts of ways I might be able to support the effort to learn to read. I now analyze sign languages, work with a team to advocate for deaf children’s language rights, and am co-director of the RISE project, producing videobooks for deaf children and their families.

Donna's book list on deaf culture

Donna Jo Napoli Why did Donna love this book?

This book gives the British side of things, focusing on the division between viewing deafness as a medical condition (a deficiency) and viewing it as a cultural condition (which leads to the birth of sign languages).  This book asks what a culture is, truly, and shows how cultures grow up around deaf signing communities.

By Paddy Ladd,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Understanding Deaf Culture as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book presents a 'Traveller's Guide' to Deaf Culture, starting from the premise that Deaf cultures have an important contribution to make to other academic disciplines, and human lives in general. Within and outside Deaf communities, there is a need for an account of the new concept of Deaf culture, which enables readers to assess its place alongside work on other minority cultures and multilingual discourses. The book aims to assess the concepts of culture, on their own terms and in their many guises and to apply these to Deaf communities. The author illustrates the pitfalls which have been created…


Book cover of The Words in My Hands

Kathy MacMillan Author Of Dagger and Coin

From my list on females who don't care if you like them or not.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author, American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, and signing storyteller. I write picture books, children’s nonfiction, middle grade, and young adult fantasy, and resource books for educators, librarians, and parents. In my books, I highlight strong female characters, both fictional and from real-life. Here I am sharing 5 of my favorite fantasy and sci-fi books with female characters who – by the end of their journeys - absolutely do not care what you think of them.

Kathy's book list on females who don't care if you like them or not

Kathy MacMillan Why did Kathy love this book?

Set in Australia a few decades in the future, this compelling novel presents a world dependent on a food substitute. Our heroine is Piper, who has grown up as an oral deaf person, relying on hearing aids and speechreading. In the midst of economic collapse and food shortages, Piper falls for a handsome CODA (child of a deaf adult) and is introduced to Auslan (Australian Sign Language) for the first time. She meets his Deaf mother and learns about growing food in the earth and growing a sense of identity and language in her soul. She joins the wild food revolution, converting the public space on her street into a thriving community garden and announcing herself to the world as a proud Deaf person.

By Asphyxia,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Words in My Hands as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Part coming of age, part call to action, this fast-paced #ownvoices novel about a Deaf teenager is a unique and inspiring exploration of what it means to belong.

Set in an ominously prescient near future, All the Words that Matter is the story of Piper: sixteen, smart, artistic, and rebellious, she’s struggling to conform to what her mom wants—for her to be ‘normal,’ to pass as hearing, and get a good job. But in a time of food scarcity, environmental collapse, and political corruption, Piper has other things on her mind—like survival.

Deaf since the age of three, Piper has…


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