Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.
The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?
Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

Piper is a strong independent teenager despite her deafness. (In a way, I think this is a physical way to illustrate the reader’s own flaws, and teach that we can grow, and overcome them anyway.) She has frustrating parents, a new baby in the family to get the new attention and special treatment, and boy troubles of both the brotherly and romantic variety.

I love how real Piper is, she deals with annoying parents, misunderstandings, sibling squabbles, jealousy, disappointment,  she just has well rounded problems. I also adore Ed and Finn. Ed is the boy who goes out of his way to express his affection for Piper. He’s just so genuine! Finn is Piper’s brother, and while they have intensive fights, they love each other fiercely. It was just so down to earth…
The only complaint I have is that Piper really did seem to get a large amount of leverage in the music world too quick. But you know, it IS a character driven novel, and everything has to have a flaw.

Antony John has gained a new fan!