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briannaharting 's review for:
Give Me a Sign
by Anna Sortino
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 stars rounded up for this Deaf summer camp YA romance!
Lilah is hard of hearing and struggles with feeling not quite "deaf enough" to be proudly a part of the Deaf community and not hearing enough to be like her fully hearing peers. She struggles to advocate for herself at school and at home where her hearing parents have never learned or taught her ASL. On a bit of a whim, she decides to apply to be a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind she attended as a kid. Once there, she gains confidence, learns more ASL, and finds romance with another counselor.
This was a really sweet and well-done story. The romance between Lilah and Isaac felt realistic and adorable. (It was a little insta-lovey but also, that is legitimately how summer camp romances are haha) The cast of other counselors was diverse and showed a range of disabled experiences without flattening the characters to just their disability, race, or experience. I really liked Bobby and Simone's characters. The summer camp setting was super realistic and it made me nostalgic for my summers working at camp, which is wild lol. The author did a really good job weaving in a variety of positive and negative disabled experiences and commenting on them without it feeling preachy or textbook-y or like the audience needed things spelled out. Her experiences clearly shaped this story and it really made it shine in all the little details!
My only critiques are that I wish Lilah had a little more personality or interests (we know her favorite color is purple but what does she like to do in her free time?). And while I loved the side characters it did sometimes feel like they popped in and out of the story whenever it was convenient for Lilah which made them feel a little less independent. And there is a big plot point near the end that had a bit too tidy of a resolution. But I don't think these are things teens who read this would care about or notice.
The audiobook was great and I love how it depicted Lilah's deafness as she would hear only bits or pieces of what was spoken by other characters. I think this book would be an engaging, romantic read for a non-deaf teen (and a great way for them to learn about the Deaf community along the way) and I think disabled readers would love to see (and hopefully see themselves in) a huge cast of Deaf and blind characters having fun and falling in love over the course of a summer. I would also feel confident handing this to a younger teen reader because it's pretty clean!
Lilah is hard of hearing and struggles with feeling not quite "deaf enough" to be proudly a part of the Deaf community and not hearing enough to be like her fully hearing peers. She struggles to advocate for herself at school and at home where her hearing parents have never learned or taught her ASL. On a bit of a whim, she decides to apply to be a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind she attended as a kid. Once there, she gains confidence, learns more ASL, and finds romance with another counselor.
This was a really sweet and well-done story. The romance between Lilah and Isaac felt realistic and adorable. (It was a little insta-lovey but also, that is legitimately how summer camp romances are haha) The cast of other counselors was diverse and showed a range of disabled experiences without flattening the characters to just their disability, race, or experience. I really liked Bobby and Simone's characters. The summer camp setting was super realistic and it made me nostalgic for my summers working at camp, which is wild lol. The author did a really good job weaving in a variety of positive and negative disabled experiences and commenting on them without it feeling preachy or textbook-y or like the audience needed things spelled out. Her experiences clearly shaped this story and it really made it shine in all the little details!
My only critiques are that I wish Lilah had a little more personality or interests (we know her favorite color is purple but what does she like to do in her free time?). And while I loved the side characters it did sometimes feel like they popped in and out of the story whenever it was convenient for Lilah which made them feel a little less independent. And there is a big plot point near the end that had a bit too tidy of a resolution. But I don't think these are things teens who read this would care about or notice.
The audiobook was great and I love how it depicted Lilah's deafness as she would hear only bits or pieces of what was spoken by other characters. I think this book would be an engaging, romantic read for a non-deaf teen (and a great way for them to learn about the Deaf community along the way) and I think disabled readers would love to see (and hopefully see themselves in) a huge cast of Deaf and blind characters having fun and falling in love over the course of a summer. I would also feel confident handing this to a younger teen reader because it's pretty clean!