Of Sound Mind

Of Sound Mind (2001), a novel for young adults by Jean Ferris, follows high school student Theo Dennison who is born into a deaf family in which sign language is the primary mode of communication. Though his parents and little brother, Jeremy cannot hear, Dennison can and helps his family interpret between spoken English and sign. Dennison’s mother, a famous sculptor, is demanding of his services, tearing him between the guilt of denying his family help and the urge to live a more independent life and get into his dream school, MIT. When Ivy, a new student with a deaf parent, joins his senior class, she sets an example for how to treat disabled family members with compassion while still being independent. However, tragedy soon hits Dennison’s family, and his decision of whether to leave his family for college becomes difficult. Of Sound Mind has received positive criticism for its sympathetic and realistic disability narrative, uniquely illuminating the complexities of choosing between self and family as one approaches adulthood.

Of Sound Mind begins at the start of Dennison’s final year of high school. For the past three years, Dennison has excelled academically, and he dreams of going to the country’s top engineering college, MIT. This fall, he decides to put all of his effort towards building the best college application he can. As a “CODA,” or child of deaf adults, he has had an atypical and emotionally taxing childhood. Because he can hear, his family has grown to rely on him being around to interpret. Palma, his mother, distrusts hearing-abled people, calling them “hearies.” She refuses to work with clients directly on even the most basic tasks, forcing Dennison to act as her manager. Jeremy uses his brother as an interpreter for his schoolwork. Thomas, his father, is mostly independent and gives Dennison occasional relief from his duties.

One day, a new classmate named Ivy arrives at school. She notices Dennison talking to himself in sign language and assumes he is deaf. She signs to him, but he avoids her, afraid that she is yet another deaf person who will want his help. To each of their surprise, neither is deaf. They become fast friends, bonding over their shared understanding of the struggles that come with living with deaf family members. An excellent chef, Ivy is fascinated by culinary history. She relates that, like Dennison, she wishes to lead a more independent life and to stop putting all of her energy into caring for her father. However, she rejects Dennison’s philosophy that they should totally cut off their families. Dennison doesn’t mean to think poorly of his parents, but he resents that his mother prioritizes being an artist over being a parent.



When Dennison’s father has a stroke, any notion of independence suddenly goes out the window. Dennison is effectively forced to take over as the head of the household. His father slowly recovers but is left partially paralyzed, and there is a strong chance he will never regain the use of his hands. With the help of Ivy, Dennison eventually weans his mother and brother of their dependence while still helping whenever he can. At the end of the novel, he gets into college and looks forward to starting school the following fall.

Of Sound Mind is a sympathetic portrait of the challenges of people with disabilities to ask for help without compromising the autonomy of their loved ones. Ultimately, its protagonist learns to negotiate his duty to his family with his aspirations for the future.