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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I get what was attempted, I liked the idea; but the execution was poor. There was too much tell and not enough show. Which makes me so sad as I think so many of the topics are so important to talk about. I was really vibing with it but the second half of the book just turned into a topic checklist. It was just boom-boom-boom with no breathing room for the topics, making it more of a preachy lecture from a 17 year old. I also felt like there were so many characters who were a flat caricature or were kinda just unlikeable (looking at you Natasha). The romance was barely developed, we were just told how in love they were instead of seeing actions. Also, for a whole book about communication; there were so many dumb miscommunications and Lilah was so thick headed so many times.
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Oh man. This book. Where do I even begin? Beautiful, eye-opening. Sweet and heartfelt.
Selfishly, this book has made me miss ASL. As life happens and friends move away, I largely stopped using it, stopped learning. Even though the experience of learning a language, learning THIS language, was like nothing I could have ever imagined. I haven't jumped back into it yet, but I've thought about and in ASL often during and since reading.
The glimpse into the deaf community, how they view themselves, their hearing loss, their culture, was such a gift. So often, it's hard to be an outsider. You forget that it can be just as hard being part of a group, a culture, and feeling like you don't belong either.
Lilah is hard of hearing, a fact she feels is taken for granted when she can pass as a hearing person with her hearing aids. So often, people forget that she missed things, that she has to work to fill in the gaps to follow a conversation. That she can't hear if she can't see a person's lips to lip read. She's never learned ASL fluently, nor has her family offered to learn for her.
When she gets the junior counselor job at Camp Grey Wolf, she's excited. The camp is for kids who are deaf and blind, and she remembers the sense of belonging she felt when she went as a kid. Lilah worries though that she won't be able to help enough. Will she be able to communicate fully with her campers? Is she deaf enough to really have a place at camp? And is the guy she's crushing on actually into her as well?
A nice balance of romance, and finding your place in the world. A book that will resonate well with everyone, but (hopefully) especially in the deaf and hard of hearing community. One that gives those of us without hearing loss a glimpse into the other side, opening awareness of what life can be like for those without one of their senses. And now it's not something to be pitied, and can be a strength in some ways, but also makes you more understanding and aware at the same time. I would love to see more books like this, with deaf or hard of hearing main characters, and I can only imagine how much more so people who relate more closely to those MCs would feel.
Definitely give this book a try!
Selfishly, this book has made me miss ASL. As life happens and friends move away, I largely stopped using it, stopped learning. Even though the experience of learning a language, learning THIS language, was like nothing I could have ever imagined. I haven't jumped back into it yet, but I've thought about and in ASL often during and since reading.
The glimpse into the deaf community, how they view themselves, their hearing loss, their culture, was such a gift. So often, it's hard to be an outsider. You forget that it can be just as hard being part of a group, a culture, and feeling like you don't belong either.
Lilah is hard of hearing, a fact she feels is taken for granted when she can pass as a hearing person with her hearing aids. So often, people forget that she missed things, that she has to work to fill in the gaps to follow a conversation. That she can't hear if she can't see a person's lips to lip read. She's never learned ASL fluently, nor has her family offered to learn for her.
When she gets the junior counselor job at Camp Grey Wolf, she's excited. The camp is for kids who are deaf and blind, and she remembers the sense of belonging she felt when she went as a kid. Lilah worries though that she won't be able to help enough. Will she be able to communicate fully with her campers? Is she deaf enough to really have a place at camp? And is the guy she's crushing on actually into her as well?
A nice balance of romance, and finding your place in the world. A book that will resonate well with everyone, but (hopefully) especially in the deaf and hard of hearing community. One that gives those of us without hearing loss a glimpse into the other side, opening awareness of what life can be like for those without one of their senses. And now it's not something to be pitied, and can be a strength in some ways, but also makes you more understanding and aware at the same time. I would love to see more books like this, with deaf or hard of hearing main characters, and I can only imagine how much more so people who relate more closely to those MCs would feel.
Definitely give this book a try!
Great deaf representation, but the main character was too whiney for my liking.
FR
En premier, je tiens à remercier NetGalley et Penguin Group pour l'envoi de cet A.R.C. (Advanced Reader Copy; je ne connais pas l'équivalent en français, sorry !). Le livre sort le 11 juillet.
Ensuite, j'ai appris après avoir lu le livre que c'est le tout premier de l'auteure alors; bravo à elle !
Il y a quelques cw dans ce livre, mais je ne les citerai pas. Quand il sortira, ils seront trouvables très facilement sur internet.
Pour ce qui est du résumé du livre; je savais juste qu'on allait suivre une jeune fille qui est malentendante, et qu'il y allait avoir d'autres représentations avec des sourd.e.s. C'est clairement ce qui m'a motivée pour ce livre. Il faut savoir que je souffre de la maladie de Menière, et que je perds mon audition à chaque crise d'acouphène (sans compter les autres symptômes). Donc, c'est un sujet qui est très cher à mon coeur.
Et clairement.. WAOUH.
Je vais commencer par citer le défaut du livre qui m'a "embêtée"; c'est que on est sur du "adolescent" très très cliché. Cliché; pour moi. Certaines personnes trouvent ça classiques etc. Pour moi, ce sont des clichés; car je ne suis pas du tout comme ça, même quand j'étais ado'. Alors forcément, ça me "bloque" toujours un peu. Mais vraiment, ce n'était rien de très important.
Pour le reste.. Que ce livre m'a fait du bien. La représentation est TELLEMENT mais TELLEMENT importante. On en parle pas assez; à quel point les autres n'apprennent pas, ne s'éduquent pas. Que ça soit parfois juste les familles, les amis, les alentours. Les écoles aussi. Tout était bien écrit, j'étais plus que ravie.
Outre ça, ça reste un bouquin vraiment agréable et chouette à lire; avec une très belle histoire (très importante, je ne le dirai pas assez). La plume de l'auteure était vraiment "simple", dans le sens où on dévore les pages !
Bref, vous l'aurez compris, c'est un livre coup de coeur; et je suivrai de très près ce que l'auteure va faire ensuite !!
ENG
First, I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group for sending this A.R.C. . The book comes out on July 11.
Then, I learned after reading the book that it was the very first by the author then; bravo to her !
There are a few cws in this book, but I won't name them. When it comes out, they will be easily found on the internet.
As for the summary of the book; I just knew that we were going to follow a young girl who is hard of hearing, and that there were going to be other representations with deaf people. This is clearly what motivated me for this book. You should know that I suffer from Menière's disease, and that I lose my hearing with each attack of tinnitus (not counting the other symptoms). So this is a subject that is very dear to my heart.
And clearly... WOW.
I'll start by citing the flaw in the book that "bothered" me; it's that we are on the "adolescent" very very cliché. Cliché, for me. Some people will find them classic etc. For me, these are clichés; because I'm not like that at all, even when I was a teenager. So inevitably, it always "blocks" me a little. But really, it was nothing very important.
For the rest... This book did me good. Representation is SO, SO important. We don't talk about it enough; how others do not learn, do not educate themselves. How sometimes it's families, friends, surroundings. Schools too. Everything was well written, I was more than delighted.
Besides that, it's still a really nice and fun book to read; with a very beautiful story (very important, I will not say it enough). The pen of the author was really "simple", in the sense that we devour the pages !
In short, you will have understood it, it's a favorite book; and I will follow very closely what the author will do next !!
En premier, je tiens à remercier NetGalley et Penguin Group pour l'envoi de cet A.R.C. (Advanced Reader Copy; je ne connais pas l'équivalent en français, sorry !). Le livre sort le 11 juillet.
Ensuite, j'ai appris après avoir lu le livre que c'est le tout premier de l'auteure alors; bravo à elle !
Il y a quelques cw dans ce livre, mais je ne les citerai pas. Quand il sortira, ils seront trouvables très facilement sur internet.
Pour ce qui est du résumé du livre; je savais juste qu'on allait suivre une jeune fille qui est malentendante, et qu'il y allait avoir d'autres représentations avec des sourd.e.s. C'est clairement ce qui m'a motivée pour ce livre. Il faut savoir que je souffre de la maladie de Menière, et que je perds mon audition à chaque crise d'acouphène (sans compter les autres symptômes). Donc, c'est un sujet qui est très cher à mon coeur.
Et clairement.. WAOUH.
Je vais commencer par citer le défaut du livre qui m'a "embêtée"; c'est que on est sur du "adolescent" très très cliché. Cliché; pour moi. Certaines personnes trouvent ça classiques etc. Pour moi, ce sont des clichés; car je ne suis pas du tout comme ça, même quand j'étais ado'. Alors forcément, ça me "bloque" toujours un peu. Mais vraiment, ce n'était rien de très important.
Pour le reste.. Que ce livre m'a fait du bien. La représentation est TELLEMENT mais TELLEMENT importante. On en parle pas assez; à quel point les autres n'apprennent pas, ne s'éduquent pas. Que ça soit parfois juste les familles, les amis, les alentours. Les écoles aussi. Tout était bien écrit, j'étais plus que ravie.
Outre ça, ça reste un bouquin vraiment agréable et chouette à lire; avec une très belle histoire (très importante, je ne le dirai pas assez). La plume de l'auteure était vraiment "simple", dans le sens où on dévore les pages !
Bref, vous l'aurez compris, c'est un livre coup de coeur; et je suivrai de très près ce que l'auteure va faire ensuite !!
ENG
First, I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group for sending this A.R.C. . The book comes out on July 11.
Then, I learned after reading the book that it was the very first by the author then; bravo to her !
There are a few cws in this book, but I won't name them. When it comes out, they will be easily found on the internet.
As for the summary of the book; I just knew that we were going to follow a young girl who is hard of hearing, and that there were going to be other representations with deaf people. This is clearly what motivated me for this book. You should know that I suffer from Menière's disease, and that I lose my hearing with each attack of tinnitus (not counting the other symptoms). So this is a subject that is very dear to my heart.
And clearly... WOW.
I'll start by citing the flaw in the book that "bothered" me; it's that we are on the "adolescent" very very cliché. Cliché, for me. Some people will find them classic etc. For me, these are clichés; because I'm not like that at all, even when I was a teenager. So inevitably, it always "blocks" me a little. But really, it was nothing very important.
For the rest... This book did me good. Representation is SO, SO important. We don't talk about it enough; how others do not learn, do not educate themselves. How sometimes it's families, friends, surroundings. Schools too. Everything was well written, I was more than delighted.
Besides that, it's still a really nice and fun book to read; with a very beautiful story (very important, I will not say it enough). The pen of the author was really "simple", in the sense that we devour the pages !
In short, you will have understood it, it's a favorite book; and I will follow very closely what the author will do next !!
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
GIVE ME A SIGN by Anna Sortino is a young adult book about a summer camp for deaf and blind students.
Lilah is hired as a junior counselor at a summer camp she attended when she was younger. She is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids. She is struggling to find her way through high school and hopes a summer away will improve her life.
Because she is not fully deaf, she doesn't feel like she fits in with the hearing world or the deaf culture.
She wants to learn more sign language, but she doesn't think her hearing parents will want to learn it.
When she arrives at camp, she is assigned to a senior counselor who is hearing but is studying ASL in college. Lilah quickly learns that there are varying degrees of disabilities, and it's not until she comes to terms with herself that she feels like she belongs.
There's a small romance angle, a scary incident with police, and tension in her own family. I liked this book because Lilah seems like a typical teenage girl. She's a little self-absorbed, a little judgmental, a little unkind. She's "normal" except she has a disability.
I learned a great deal from this book about deaf culture, degrees of hearing impairments, technological assists, and strained dynamics within families and friends. This was very interesting.
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