From The Orange County Register:
JANUARY 27, 2017 | GREG MELLEN, STAFF WRITER
As an advocate for fellow members in the deaf community, Antoinette Abbamonte has spent most of her life reaching out to educate the “hearing world” as an actress and speaker, or signer, at schools.
But it was a deeply personal and affecting experience with her son, Dylan Plantinga, who is not hearing impaired, that led her to write her first children’s book, “Tree Wise: The Signing Branches.”
When Dylan, now 15, was in preschool, Abbamonte would drive him to school and his classmates would see Dylan and his mother communicating in American Sign Language.
One day, she said, “He was crying. He said ‘Why am I different? Why is my mom different from the others?’”
Abbamonte’s first reaction, after calming and reassuring her son, was to become angry. “Why do they look at us like we’re from a different planet,” the Huntington Beach resident said of the hearing-impaired.
The experience pushed Abbamonte not only into writing but to talking to students about the deaf community and acceptance.
On Tuesday, Abbamonte will share her message and her book at the 29th annual Authors Festival presented by the Huntington Beach Friends of the Children’s Library. She will address school children in the morning before attending a reception and book-signing 2:30-5 p.m. at the Central Library, 7111 Talbert Ave.
Nineteen authors, including Abbamonte, from all walks of life and genres of children’s literature signed up for the Authors Festival this year. They will visit 15 local schools on Tuesday or alternate dates. According to Gail Page, who leads the effort with Friends of the Children’s Library, the number of authors is up this year, although well below the height of 70 in the event’s heyday.
Bridging the divide
Abbamonte’s book, published in 2008, tells the story of a sad boy named Reed, who is befriended by very wise tree. The boy and other children learn not only about signing, but communication, diversity and inclusion. The book also includes several illustrations of basic signing.
“We need to be ready to work with people of different cultures,” Abbamonte said of the over-arching theme.
Although an estimated 48 million Americans suffer from some level of hearing loss, according to the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, “profound, early-onset deafness is present in 4 to 11 per 10,000 children, and is attributable to genetic causes in at least 50 percent of cases.” is that right, 4 to 11 of 10,000 children?
Born to deaf parents in Brooklyn, N.Y., Abbamonte says her mother, an Italian immigrant, was determined not to let her child be isolated by her disability.
“She pushed me out there to be a part of the world,” said Abbamonte, who recalls giving boys a run for their money in games of stickball.
Then she went to a school for the deaf where “I learned ASL (American Sign Language). It’s my first language.”
At a young age, Abbamonte was drawn to acting, inspired by Morgan Freeman on the PBS kids show “Electric Company.” She would go on to tour for four years with the Cleveland Signstage Theatre, as part of a five-person troupe of hearing and deaf performers. She has also worked as an actress.
In addition to acting and directing on stage, she has worked in television in series such as “The New Normal” and “Switched at Birth.” Her latest film “Titus,” is in post-production and soon to be released.
She is also a director, conducts workshops and presentations at schools and is an advocate as a member of the SAG-AFTRA Performers With Disabilities Committee.
She is married to Scott Plantinga, with two boys, Dylan, a student at Huntington Beach High, and Jaden, 12, who attends Dwyer Middle School.
Abbamonte’s second book “Gratitude: Trust, Intimacy and Love,” is about to come out and is skewed to an older crowd, but still features sign language and illustrations by Heng Bee Tan, a deaf illustrator who provided the art for Abbamonte’s first book.
“Gratitude” Abbamonte said is about learning to love oneself, gaining self-esteem and feeling good inside.”
While Abbamonte enjoys the perks that go with the celebrity of being an artist, she said she really wants to bring differing cultures and communities together, including the deaf and hearing.
One of the best ways to do that, she says, is through children.
“I want them to learn from what I went through,” she said.
Festive atmosphere
All the authors at this year’s festival seem to share the love of passing on reading to children and the wonder and excitement of youth. Whether raised with Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia or Nancy Drew, they were imbued with a love of words.
Some of the authors, such as Debra Garfinkle of Aliso Viejo and Chris Epting of Huntington Beach have fairly extensive writing backgrounds and titles to their credits, while others are just launching careers.
Epting comes more from the world of adult books and has a lengthy list of books ranging from biographies of notable figures to historical and travel books.
Garfinkle has been a regular at the festival for the past 11 years. One of the most accomplished of the assembled writers, Garfinkle, who also writes under the name D. L. Green, started her literary career, “the day after I quit my job” at a law firm.
It took the self-described bookworm five years and 10 rejections before her acclaimed young adult novel “Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl” was picked up by the Penguin Group.
Garfinkle says she started wanting to write stories for her young children.
She really hit it when “Sparkling Jewel,” the first book in her “Silver Pony Ranch” chapter book series for 5- to 7-year-olds, sold more than 100,000 in four months after it was picked up in 2015 by Scholastic, which provides children’s literacy products and books to schools nationally.
Her “Zeke Meeks“ series consists of 14 books that have drawn praise from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Her latest book for 9- to 12-year-olds is “Kaitlyn and the Competition.”
Being a long-time participant at the festival, Garfinkle has been able to watch a following of young readers grow up.
“It’s just really rewarding,“ she said. “I get to see my author friends. I get treated a little like a rock star. Then I have to go home and clean and do laundry.“
Garfinkle recently returned to the adult world, writing for the Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo law firm. However, she still gets up at 5 in the morning several days a week to write and attends weekly critique classes.
So much for resting on her laurels.
Epting, comes more from the world of adult books and has a lengthy list of books ranging from biographies of notable figures to historical and travel books.
Some of the writers are like Meadow Griffin, 26, who lives in Orange, and is releasing the third book in her “Legends of Erin” series of fantasy novels. Her books are set in Ireland and feature all manner of goblins, dark woods and magic.
Griffin remembers being inspired as a child reader by the Harry Potter books, saying “I always wanted to go to Hogwarts,” and has taken it from there. She also does custom portrait and face painting. And, to help pay the bills she has a nanny job.
“I would like to be an artist full time,” Griffin said of her writing.
For Marissa and Angela Vincent, writing opens to door to environmental awareness.
Their Save the Green Queen promotes environmental awareness for children through a picture and audiobook that changes the lyrics of popular children’s rhymes into eco-messages.
Angela Vincent, who works at CalRecycle when not writing, presents her book with dances and songs. She is also at work on a second book and starting an eco-themed day camp.
“Honestly, it’s a passion project,“ she said.
Passion is something that seems to thread through all the authors. Like Garfinkle, they hope to instill laughter and a love of reading.