Alandra's Lilacs By Tressa Bowers

The novel Alandra’s Lilacs, by Tressa Bowers, tells the story of a Deaf woman, Alandra, and her mother Tressa. The story begins before Alandra was born and tells Tressa’s narative up to Alandra’s adulthood. Throughout the book, the reader sees the challenges that come with having a deaf child. We see both the achievements and setbacks faced by Alandra and her mother. Although being deaf may seem like a misfortune to most, Tressa reveals her experiences with Deaf culture and seeing deafness in a new light. By the end of the novel, the readers are also able to see deafness in a different way, appreciating the cultural and linguistic values of the community.

When Tressa found out Alandra was deaf, she wanted her to have the most “normal” life possible, speaking and learning in the same way a hearing child would. She was determined to have Landy be oral and able to communicate with hearing individuals. At this time, Tressa was unfamiliar with Deaf culture. She cared deeply for Alandra and

The school argued that signing would become a “crutch” and limit a child’s ability to speak and interact with the hearing world (31). While Tressa viewed this as a positive program at the time, she later discovered the importance of sign and how it allowed Alandra to communicate to the fullest extent. After the family moved, Alandra began attending a residential school in Jacksonville. At this school, sign and speech were used in a “total communication” method. Here, Alandra was able to spend her entire day with deaf peers and learn how easy it was to communicate with them through sign language. Landy enjoyed attending the school, but she had to spend lots of time away from her family at a very young age. While the residential school has its positives and negatives, it was overall a great way for Alandra to receive a good education and meet other deaf