蝶の羽ばたき、その先へ（読みもの）
Beyond the Butterfly's Flutter
カテゴリー: Japanese Children's Books、おすすめ！日本の子どもの本、読みもの／chapter books and novels
『蝶の羽ばたき、その先へ』（Cho no habataki, sono saki e）
結（ゆい）はママとふたり暮らし。中学２年生の始業式の日に突然耳鳴りがし、片耳が聞こえにくいと感じるが、ママに言い出せない。５月になって、病院へ行くが耳鳴りは治らず、そのことを親友の真紀に言うのをためらう。
７月、医師に聴力の回復は困難と言われる。結が落ち込んでいると、同じクラスの涼介が心配して公園に連れていってくれる。結は涼介に、「健康な耳が聞き取れる限界の音」である「蝶の羽ばたき」を聞いたことがあるかと質問するが、難聴については語れない。
9月、また落ち込んで公園へ行くと、手話で楽しそうに会話している人たちを見かけて興味を持つ。結は、手話サークルを見学し、そこで突発性難聴で両耳とも聞こえない今日子さんに出会い、手話サークルに通うようになる。
その後、結は、耳の聞こえない人の病院での対応方法を書いた医療パンフレットの配布にかかわり、その打合せの際に差別的な対応に遭遇する。それをきっかけに、級友に突発性難聴であることを語ることができるようになる。
治療の様子、結が感じたことなどが４月から12月まで時系列でていねいに描写され、手話サークルの人たちとの出会いを通して、結が自分の障害に向き合えるまでの過程が、読者も共感できるように描かれている。（土居）
| 出版社 | 小峰書店 |
|---|---|
| 初版年 | 2019年 |
| ISBN | 9784338287210 |
| ページ数 | 160頁 |
| サイズ | 20×14 |
| 対象年齢 | 13歳から |
| キーワード | 聴覚障害 手話 母子家庭 |
Beyond the Butterfly's Flutter
Yui lives with her mother. The first day of her second year of junior high, in April, she suddenly experiences ear-ringing and that notices she cannot hear well out of one ear. She does not want to make her mother worry, however, so she does not tell her right away. In May, she goes to the doctor, but the ringing does not stop. Yui hesitates to tell her close friend Maki. In July, Yui learns from the doctor that it will be difficult to restore her hearing. When she grows depressed, a boy in her class named Ryosuke worries for her and takes her to the park. Yui asks him if he has ever heard the sound of a butterfly’s wings, which is apparently the outer limit of what healthy human ears can hear. But Yui cannot seem to tell him about her hearing loss.
After summer break, Yui goes to the park again when feeling down, and she notices some people who are conversing animatedly in sign language. Then she visits a sign language circle and meets Kyoko, who has suffered sudden deafness and cannot hear at all. Hearing about Kyoko’s experience, Yui is able to put her own into perspective. She continues to attend the circle. In November, Yui attends a lecture about a pamphlet regarding how deaf people should be treated in hospitals. Yui offers to distribute the pamphlet at a sign-language rakugo comedy event. In December, when arranging a meeting with other hearing-impaired people about pamphlet distribution, Yui is shocked to be treated with discrimination when she books the room. She begins to think about her own internalized prejudices, and she finally tells her friend Maki about her hearing loss. She invites her classmates to the rakugo event, and on the day of the event, she greets them with both voice and sign language.
From April through December, the chronology of Yui’s medical treatments and the evolution in her feelings are sensitively portrayed. The process of growing able to face her deafness is evoked in a way that readers will find relatable. (Doi)
- text: Morino, Komichi | illus. Bannai, Taku
- Komine Shoten
- 2019
- 160 pages
- 20×14
- ISBN 9784338287210
- Ages 13 +
Hearing impairment, Sign language, Single-parent family