About the Book:
Brandi Rarus lost her hearing at age six. She met her husband Tim after seeing him at the Gallaudet Uprising, and they fell in love a year later, devoting their lives to each other, improving the lives and communication for the Deaf, and later, raising their three hearing sons.
Despite being head over heels for her boys, Brandi kept dreaming that she’d have a daughter someday. She didn’t know when or how, but she knew a little girl was out there waiting for her.
When Zoe was born to Jess, a high school student who knew she couldn’t raise a baby on her own, Jess did her best to find the ideal couple to raise her little girl. But when the adoptive family discovered Zoe’s increasing hearing loss, they made the agonizing decision to let her go.
Set against the backdrop of Deaf America, Finding Zoe is story about a remarkable family and gives us a poignant insight into their culture and its history. It’s a story about doing what is right and watching how the pieces can just fall into place, as it did when Zoe found her true family.
About the Author:
Deaf since age six after contracting spinal meningitis, Brandi Rarus could speak and read lips, but felt caught between the deaf and hearing world--fitting into neither. When she realized you don't need to hear to live a fulfilled life, she became empowered and was chosen as Miss Deaf America. She married Tim Rarus, an advocate for Deaf people whose work inspired the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Together, they have paved the way to bring new technologies that promote equal access in communication. Brandi and Tim live in Austin, Texas, with their four children: three hearing boys and the youngest, Zoe, a Deaf girl they adopted. Today, Brandi and her family are tirelessly dedicated to ensuring all children find their rightful place in our world. Award-winning writer and teacher of the intuitive process.
Gail Harris has experienced the joy of adopting a child. She brings her knowledge of the adoption process and in-vitro fertilization to this book, along with her ability to articulate from a hearing person's perspective what is fascinating about the Deaf experience. In the four years that it took to write Finding Zoe, Gail conducted more than 75 interviews to uncover. Gail is the author of Your Heart Knows the Answer and a featured blogger on several popular parenting blogs. She lives with her husband and son in Framingham, MA.
My Review:
Brandi has led a somewhat full life, in spite of her personal handicap. She is a very beautiful woman that shares a home with a great family and they are able to grow that love outside their home by helping others in any way that they can. But the difference with the Brandi and Tim is that they are deaf, but they don't allow that to stand in their way of being a servant to those around them. Zoe is a sweet, little girl that they adopted to complete their family. They have a total of four children with Zoe being the only one of their children that is deaf.
The story that has brought this family to where it is, is a truly remarkable one that should inspire us all to be better and to do better. God has a way of changing our direction though and that is exactly what He did for Brandi. He showed her to not only accept her disability but showed her how to see herself as God does. And she uses it to help others see the same things in themselves. This was a very emotional, raw story of a girl trying to fit in and be accepted only to find out that God and His love is the only acceptance she should seek.
If you would like to learn more about this book, you can at this link.
*Note* This book has some mild language in it. Maybe just as many as four words were mentioned.
**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Pump Up Your Book.
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