Future Girl

Sixten-year-old Piper and her mum live in Melbourne, in a near-future dystopia where fresh food is virtually a thing of the past, society relying instead on an artificially manufactured nutrition source. Resources are scarce and when her mum suddenly loses her job, Piper is inspired to explore growing and cooking food the old-fashioned way.

Piper is deaf and her mum has brought her up to communicate orally, using hearing aids and lip reading. But life shifts dramatically for her as she falls head over heels for Marley, whose mum is Deaf. Piper is captivated by Marley, but also by the beauty, freedom and expression of the sign language they use. She’s hungry to expand her horizons and to understand what it can mean to be part of the Deaf community. However exploring this new ground brings with it some fundamental questions which are to challenge her very identity. 

This is a powerful love story, with equally powerful messages about climate change, self-sufficiency, different experiences of deafness, inclusion and fitting in.

Created by a Deaf activist, author and artist, it’s uniquely and beautifully presented, in the form of a collage-style art journal, and each page is a visual joy.