Super Short Summary

Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky, published in 2019, is a "novel in poems" set in the fictional town of Vasenka, under military occupation. After soldiers kill a deaf boy, the townspeople feign deafness and develop their own sign language to organize an insurgency. Themes of war, tyranny, and resistance are explored as they face escalating reprisals. Topics of violence and trauma are present.