Book Signing - Finding Zoe by Brandi Rarus

At eight months old Zoe was the bright and beautiful picture of a baby any childless mother would want. So why was she passed in and out of four homes desperately in need of a family to love her? She had di!erent needs: Zoe was deaf.

Each year, thousands of children are placed in adoptive and foster care in the United States. Many of those children have special needs and, at a critical stage of development, become trapped in a system where precious time is lost. Early intervention is the answer, but these children are unwanted by many potential parents who are uninformed and afraid. Not Brandi Rarus! 

The moment she found Zoe, Brandi knew the hand of fate had brought them together. Brandi lost her hearing at age six to a life-threatening case of spinal meningitis. Who better to adopt this child than a mother who understood just what she needed to thrive in a hearing world?

In Finding Zoe, Brandi Rarus shares the story of her very personal path of self-discovery and the struggle of being caught between two worlds–the hearing and the Deaf. We travel with her through her mainstreamed younger years and later on to college at The National Technical Institute for the Deaf where she embraces Deaf culture and realizes that being Deaf is not a handicap, but a passport to a whole new and exciting world.

Brandi brings us behind the scenes as she takes on the world advocating for her Deaf Community as Miss Deaf America; meeting and falling in love with Tim, a Gallaudet University student leader who later helped write the landmark Americans with Disability Act on Capitol Hill. The two married and had three hearing boys–the 1rst non-deaf children born in Tim’s family in 125 years, but with all their blessings something was still missing.

With a powerful foreword provided by Marlee Matlin, an Academy Award-winning actress and member of the National Association of the Deaf, Finding Zoe is an inspiring recollection of how two individuals who, already bonded by their diversity, come together as an unbreakable mother-daughter pair to navigate a silent world and shed light the adoption/foster care system.

Deaf since age six after contracting spinal meningitis, BRANDI RARUS could speak and read lips, but felt caught between the deaf and hearing world–fitting into neither. When she realized you don’t need to hear to live a fulfilled life, she became empowered and was chosen as Miss Deaf America. From signing the National Anthem at a Chicago Cubs game to speaking at corporate conferences, Brandi traveled the country speaking out for deaf children and building awareness of what it means to be Deaf.

She married Tim Rarus, an advocate for Deaf people whose work inspired the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Together, they have paved the way to bring new technologies that promote equal access in communication. Brandi and Tim live in Austin, Texas, with their four children: three hearing boys and the youngest, Zoe, a Deaf girl they adopted. Today, Brandi and her family are tirelessly dedicated to ensuring all children and their rightful place in our world.

More info on Brandi Rarus at

AuthorBrandiRarus