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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
3.5 stars. Sweet book about a Deaf girl learning more about Deaf culture, developing her own identity, learning to express her needs, and experiencing her first romance while working as a junior counselor at summer camp. I really want to give this story more stars because there aren't a lot of stories with Deaf representation out there and I want them to be amazing. (Full disclosure: I approached this book as a fully hearing person, so I am going to be biased, but my issues were really not with the parts of the story that dealt with Deafness.) The novel was very educational and I felt it helped me understand a little more what some people in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities experience and decisions they have to make on an almost constant basis. The benefits of these decisions are highlighted as well as the challenges and although every Deaf person's life is going to be a different story, this seems like a good introduction (if slightly didactic) to what is might be like to be a Deaf young person for someone who's never met one before. That's what I liked best.
I confess I had a hard time being sympathetic towards Lilah, even though I wanted to be. She seemed much younger and more immature than 17. (Giving her the benefit of the doubt, perhaps this was because of communication issues with other people her age?) She didn't seem to take her responsibilities as a junior counselor seriously, being very often distracted, making more than one poor decision, and not seeming to learn from her mistakes. (This I had a hard time forgiving. You're responsible for children. There is nothing more important than that.) But I did like when she took more agency over her communication with others.
As far as her romance with Isaac... it was gentle and PG-rated. I have no complaints whatsoever there. This is just a heads up for YA readers expecting more.
I almost feel like Lilah's coming-of-age journey would have been more appropriate for a middle-grade or younger teen protagonist and not someone about to become an adult. But then there's an event towards the end that's very important and emotional that doesn't work unless Lilah is an older teen, so I'm not sure what to do about that. Ultimately, although parts of the story are good and I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, there are some things that just don't mesh.
I confess I had a hard time being sympathetic towards Lilah, even though I wanted to be. She seemed much younger and more immature than 17. (Giving her the benefit of the doubt, perhaps this was because of communication issues with other people her age?) She didn't seem to take her responsibilities as a junior counselor seriously, being very often distracted, making more than one poor decision, and not seeming to learn from her mistakes. (This I had a hard time forgiving. You're responsible for children. There is nothing more important than that.) But I did like when she took more agency over her communication with others.
As far as her romance with Isaac... it was gentle and PG-rated. I have no complaints whatsoever there. This is just a heads up for YA readers expecting more.
I almost feel like Lilah's coming-of-age journey would have been more appropriate for a middle-grade or younger teen protagonist and not someone about to become an adult. But then there's an event towards the end that's very important and emotional that doesn't work unless Lilah is an older teen, so I'm not sure what to do about that. Ultimately, although parts of the story are good and I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, there are some things that just don't mesh.
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lilah feels somewhere in between. She doesn’t feel “deaf enough” to identify as Deaf but not “hearing enough” to meet the world’s expectations.
She takes a summer job as a junior counselor at a deaf and blind camp that she attended when she was younger in the hopes of gaining more proficiency in ASL. There she meets an eclectic group of peers including a couple of possible love interests and also learns some lessons the hard way, both personally and as a counselor.
To be honest, I wanted to like this one more than I did. The writing was fine, and there were some good points made about how insensitive and uncompromising those outside the deaf world can be. However, I felt there should have also been more of a balance of those “outsiders” who do strive for equality and inclusion with the deaf community. I also felt Lilah a bit too scattered, but at 17 I can give her a pass on that…mostly.
But I’ll also say that I’m not within this intended readership’s age so I’m probably not the best reader to judge this particular book.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers for providing the free early arc of Give Me a Sign for review. The opinions are strictly my own.
She takes a summer job as a junior counselor at a deaf and blind camp that she attended when she was younger in the hopes of gaining more proficiency in ASL. There she meets an eclectic group of peers including a couple of possible love interests and also learns some lessons the hard way, both personally and as a counselor.
To be honest, I wanted to like this one more than I did. The writing was fine, and there were some good points made about how insensitive and uncompromising those outside the deaf world can be. However, I felt there should have also been more of a balance of those “outsiders” who do strive for equality and inclusion with the deaf community. I also felt Lilah a bit too scattered, but at 17 I can give her a pass on that…mostly.
But I’ll also say that I’m not within this intended readership’s age so I’m probably not the best reader to judge this particular book.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers for providing the free early arc of Give Me a Sign for review. The opinions are strictly my own.
I really, really enjoyed this book! Lilah is a fully fleshed out, real person, and her experiences and interactions with the world, both in an out of camp, feel absolutely authentic and real. There wasn't a single character that was flat and two-dimensional, everyone felt real. And the romance? Also feels real, relatable, and healthy, something that isn't a given in YA lit.
As a person who is largely ignorant of deaf culture, I found this book wonderfully informative and insightful. There is a whole range of deaf experiences and identities that I am completely unaware of. I am so grateful to this author for writing such a beautiful, accessible story that many people will connect with on different levels!
As a person who is largely ignorant of deaf culture, I found this book wonderfully informative and insightful. There is a whole range of deaf experiences and identities that I am completely unaware of. I am so grateful to this author for writing such a beautiful, accessible story that many people will connect with on different levels!
Fantastic perspective of a deaf female character! It was very eye opening how the world expects folks who have difficulty with their hearing to adapt, especially through the use of technology.
I borrowed this from my library as an audiobook. This book started to drag on and the relationships and storylines were becoming more complicated and messy than I initially expected.
3.5/5⭐️: This book was such a quick read/listen! I loved how it gave a great intro to the CODAs and the deaf community in general. The character development was pretty good! Overall, a good read. Recommend to those looking into learning more the deaf community and the impact that society has on their interactions
I wanted to like this book because I was excited to read that the MC was deaf and that most of the supporting characters were deaf as well. As the author pointed out in her note at the end, relatable deaf characters in stories are very rare, and she wished they existed in the books she read growing up. I was excited to read an authentic voice story and get a fresh perspective on the usual YA summer camp plot. Unfortunately, this just felt like the author running through a checklist of ways people show prejudice against deaf people instead of telling a story that showed both the challenges of being deaf AND the great things about having a tight knit community of people.
For example the story includes all of the following problematic situations (while I will stay vague on who/when/why, skip over this section if you want absolutely no spoilers):
1. Parents who do not value ASL and even joke about it by saying they know ASL with random hand signs that aren’t part of the language
2. Hospitals not providing adequate interpreters for a deaf person who is assisting a hearing patient
3. Parents pushing the use of hearing aid devices over learning ASL
4. A fast food restaurant not serving deaf customers because they assume they are faking deafness
5. A hearing person having a successful YouTube channel by teaching ASL (which isn’t fully correct ASL because she is not deaf herself)
6. Hearing person pretending they are deaf to get a guy to leave them alone
7. Donors complimenting a deaf camper for being so “well-spoken”
8. A deaf person being accused of stealing when there was just missed communication
9. A police officer and security guard getting overly aggressive with a deaf person about #8
10. Many more instances of hearing people being impatient and annoyed with deaf characters for missing dialogue, having to repeat themselves, etc.
Do all of these things happen in real life? Absolutely. And hearing people need to understand and address these prejudices. However this book missed a huge opportunity to show the joy and support the deaf community has with each other. It was just one cringy encounter after another that eventually escalated to police being involved (which to me was borderline on requiring a content warning with everything going on in the world).
Moving on from the overload of negative scenes in this story, I also felt like it read more middle grade than YA. There is a little bit of drinking and a tense scene with some hand-to-hand violence, but otherwise it felt like it could have been about a middle schooler and I wouldn’t have known the difference.
The “romance” is also instalove (ughhh so many of these lately!) and there is zero chemistry. I think with how little the romance was in the story, it should have just been left out in favor of friendly relationship instead.
Your average YA romance. I did enjoy reading a deaf centered book. Even though I could not relate to the experiences in the book I’m sure many people could. The deaf community is truly amazing and there should be more books out there about them.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The way that I devoured this book. I loved every bit of it! It was cozy, and informative, and adorable, and it made me cry. (Especially the scene with police brutality, it was well-written and necessary but like I cried out of anger and frustration and sadness because its just too much.) I really liked the relationship between the protagonist and love interest. It was very sweet and cute. Overall, a very quick, enjoyable read.