Book excerpt: Rian is starting her sixth grade year in a new home and at a new school in Northeast Philadelphia. On her first day, she is greeted by Shack, the class bully, who wastes no time breaking one of her cochlear implants. She's used to feeling like an outsider, but nothing could prepare her for life at John Hancock Elementary. Her teachers can't pronounce her name, the "normal" kids think she's Deaf and the Deaf kids think she's a joke. deaf not Deaf is a story about an unlikely friendship between Rian and Luis two twelve year old sixth graders who understand deafness in very different ways. Rian is a cochlear implant recipient and Luis is a member of the Deaf Community who communicates using American Sign Language. Despite their implicit bias toward one another, Rian and Luis eventually break down communication barriers and learn to see past their differences. Linked by their common enemy, Rian, Luis and their group of misfit friends hatch a plan to get revenge on Shack once and for all?but will their ghoulish idea be an epic success or will playing with the supernatural come back to haunt them in the end?