Haben

Starred review from April 8, 2019
With wit and passion, Haben, a disability rights lawyer, public speaker, and the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law, takes readers through her often unaccommodating world. Born in the Bay Area in 1988, Haben spent summers in her family’s homeland of Eritrea, in the capital Asmara, where her deafblind older brother hadn’t been allowed to attend school. While living in the U.S. afforded her more opportunity, she missed out on assignments, jokes, and life’s nuances: “It’s a sighted hearing classroom, in a sighted hearing school, in a sighted hearing society. In this environment, I’m disabled.” At a young age, Haben vowed to change that environment and pushed beyond her own comfort zones: dancing salsa, helping build a school in Mali, and climbing an iceberg. At Lewis & Clark College she advocated for a braille cafeteria menu; at Harvard Law, she developed a text-to-braille system, which allowed a second party to communicate details to her during classes, in court, and at a White House Americans with Disabilities Act celebration, where as guest speaker she was “starstruck around all these heroes who paved the way for Generation ADA.” This is a heartwarming memoir of a woman who champions access and dignity for all.

June 15, 2019
An Eritrean American Deafblind disabilities advocate tells the story of how she learned to succeed in a world made to the measure of sighted, hearing people. Haben grew up in Oakland as the daughter of Eritrean parents who fled war-torn Ethiopia. Born with exceptionally poor vision and hearing that deteriorated steadily as she aged, her Deafblind world felt neither "small [nor] limited" and was instead her comfortable "normal." Though the author's disabilities sometimes caused her to struggle in school and daily life, her positive outlook--shaped in part by parents who had struggled to build a new life in America and playmates who treated her as "someone with gifts to share and lessons to teach"--helped her overcome the barriers that stood in her way. As a teenager, the author consciously transcended both her limitations and the protective boundaries set by her parents by learning to salsa and participating in a school-building project in Mali. She spent part of her post-high school summer at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, where she learned how to navigate with a cane and guide dog and to use a radial arm saw. In college, the author unwittingly stumbled upon her career path when she fought for, and won, the right to have the printed cafeteria menus she could not read emailed to a personal computer that translated them into digital braille. She went on to attend Harvard Law School, becoming its first Deafblind graduate. As a public service lawyer, she became part of the legal team that helped expand coverage provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act to include not just the brick-and-mortar world, but the digital one as well. Warmhearted and optimistic, the book celebrates personal courage and triumph as well as the unlimited potential of those whose real disability is living in a society that too often does not make accommodations for their physical impairments. An inspiring and illuminating memoir.

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June 1, 2019
Articulated in elegant prose, lawyer and activist Girma's struggles navigating an ableist world as a person with disabilities are motivating, heartbreaking, and real. Girma hooks readers immediately with an incident from her childhood; boarding a plane to return to the U.S., Girma's father was temporarily detained, leaving her alone on the plane, aware of her vulnerability. This moment sets a path for the book, as Girma relates her evolving determination to live her life independently and powerfully. Girma's rare sense of humor and honest insight shine through beautifully in her memoir, bringing vibrancy and allowing readers to feel a personal closeness that enhances her story. Readers see Girma's path from a bull-daring, strategizing, problem-solving kid who fights to choose her own path, to a powerhouse lawyer who wins cases and recognition and speaks out for the rights of people with disabilities. Girma is the role model we all need: a person who took the complexities of her life and made herself stronger, and the world around her brighter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2019

Raised on her parents' stories of Eritrea's decades-long war with Ethiopia, American-born Girma showed her strength by becoming the first deaf-blind woman to graduate from Harvard Law School. Now she advocates for those with disabilities. Meanwhile, she's created a text-to-Braille communication system and received honors from presidents and prime ministers. With a 60,000-copy first printing; featured at BookExpo.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2019

Born with deaf-blindness, Girma grew up with enough vision to know when someone was in front of her and enough hearing to know when someone close to her was talking. However, she had difficulty reading facial features or distinguishing people in group conversations. Relying on her own problem-solving skills, Girma overcame roadblocks while simultaneously obtaining her undergraduate and then law degree. In the process, she developed new methods of communication and found her calling in advocating for the deaf and blind communities in more accessible communication, education, and employment opportunities. As a lawyer and advocate, Girma shares a collection of vignettes illustrating the defining points in her life. She peppers her writing with a witty sense of humor and showcases her strength in facing obstacles, along with challenging antiquated societal beliefs about people with disabilities, whether describing her experience climbing Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier or helping a drunk friend get to his dorm by using her seeing-eye dog that he adores as a lure. VERDICT An absolute must-read; Haben's compelling account reveals a driven and accomplished woman and displays her impressive advocacy for the disabled community.--Stacy Shaw, Denver

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.