Dumb: Living Without a Voice

Georgia was a chatty, singing-in-the-shower twentysomething working at a bike shop in Montreal, before losing her voice for months after a vocal injury. Beautifully raw and personal, her graphic novel memoir Dumb chronicles the challenges that come with suddenly becoming mute. We see Georgia struggle to find a new sense of identity, navigate many social and work challenges, find new ways of expressing herself, and overcome her doubts. A nuanced look at one person's experience of mutism, this story shows some ways that disability can depend on and be altered by environment, expectations, choices, and trade-offs. The art in this book is clear and emotively raw, combining multiple styles and media, using red and black ink to strong effect to powerfully convey Georgia's physical and emotional experiences.