I absolutely loved this book. Sortino said that she hopes it gives readers a glance into the depth and complexities of Deaf culture, and that it surely did, for me at least. I'm grateful to be able to learn so much in such an accessible way.

The story follows Lilah, a hard of hearing teen, who is having a difficult time finding her place–never really feeling "deaf enough" or hearing enough.

After landing a job as a junior counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind, she hopes this will all, finally, start to change.

What a heartwarming journey, watching Lilah find a community–and love– where she finally feels like she belongs. 🧡

- YA
- Wide range of Deaf rep
- Summer Camp vibes
- Great cast of characters

Thank you so much for the ARC!

This was such a cute and refreshing YA read! It took me right back to my summer as a camp counselor and everything the main characters participated in, so did I!
I loved that this gives representation to those hard of hearing and the struggles they deal with not only physically but mentally and socially as well. There wasn’t one thing that I didn’t like about this and I highly recommend

This is a heart-warming story. What an amazing introductory story into ASL, Deaf culture, and more. I loved getting the experiences of the author tied into the story. This book follows Lilian a main character as she navigates through being at camp, learning ASL, and falling in love. If you’re interested in YA romances this is a must pick up.

This author did a fantastic job with this book! I’m a Speech-Language Pathologist and I feel like I NEEDED to read this book. It explains issues with the Deaf community and the hard of hearing really well. It gives a lot of good insight and really helped me understand a lot of issues surrounding this community. It shows the beauty of ASL and the hardships, the highs and the lows, and overall just acceptance of your choices as an individual.

…also it’s just a fun summer YA!

Thank you so much to the author for this book! I learned so much and I’m thrilled I had the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

Give me a sign by Anna Sortino is such an amazing book, which gives us hearing readers a little bit of insight into what Deaf culture looks like and the daily struggles that Deaf people face.

With Anna being a Deaf author we get an actual authentic peak into some of the struggles that Deaf people, especially Deaf teenagers, face in a hearing world that is very adverse to change and accessibility.

I’ve never seen the summer camp trope before and I really enjoyed it, it was very well executed and had me hooked on every page. I finished this book in less then a day, it was an absolute page turner and I loved every minute of it.

Thé plot twist near the end of the book was very unexpected but was very sobering as it is a very real reality and fear that a lot of Deaf people may have or face. Although there was a lot of romance in this book it didn’t feel overdone and it mostly focused on Lilah and Issac’s romance and it didn’t feel as thought we were all over the place, which in turn made it feel as though we were actually at camp with them and experiencing the summer together.

All together it was an amazing book and the first book I’ve ever read with Deaf and Disabled main characters, along with blind side characters that also help with the progression and the feel of the entire novel.

All in all I would give this book a 4.5/5

This is such a beautifully written book, full of heart and hardships. It gives lots of insight into deaf culture and accessibility, and really opened my eyes to how we need to make the world more accessible for everyone, particularly deaf people. Lilah's story touched my heart so much. Her constant struggles in both the hearing world (not being able to hear everything) and deaf world (not being able to sign fluently), and her own identity in the midst of it all, really sends a strong message to everyone. Whether you're a deaf or hearing person, I believe this book is definitely worth reading and learning from.

Best things about this book for me are the summer camp setting, cute romance, and new friendships. Most of all, I love the main takeaway from this book—be confident and happy with who you are, with the knowledge that you are complete as you are ❤️

What I Liked;

-Sortino did a great job of weaving in sign language, Deaf culture, and information into the novel without it feeling clunky.

-Some of the side characters were really nicely developed.

-I liked that Lilah and Max had a positive sibling relationship.


What I Struggled With:

-The plot was lacking. While the romance plot between Lilah and Issac had some ups and downs, you could tell how it would end. And the plot of getting enough funds to save the camp felt a little bit like an afterthought. It popped up here and there. Overall, the stakes didn't feel super present.

-I couldn't keep track of how old the campers were supposed to be. Also, the passage of time was really hard to keep track of, though that might have been semi-intentional since Lilah herself commented on that.

-The novel was a little coarser than my personal preference. There was fairly frequent swearing/coarse language sprinkled throughout. The casual treatment of underage drinking and fake IDs bothered me.


Final Thoughts:

Give Me a Sign gives an insightful look into Deaf culture and what life is like for the Deaf and hard of hearing. However, from a literary standpoint, there are some weaknesses in the novel, mainly with the plot.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a heartwarming debut novel! I loved that the author included a wide spectrum of Deaf characters. I learned a lot as a reader about Deaf culture and the different prejudices they face from the hearing community.

All the characters were great and distinct from each other. Lilah, Ethan and Isaac were probably my favourites though. The camp aspect also brought a lot of shenanigans and made the story even more charming. The romance and the friendships that were formed during camp were so cute as well.

All in all, I had a great time reading this and it would be a perfect read for the summer!

I did not want this book to end.

Lilah is heard of hearing and struggling to figure how where she fits in between both the Deaf and hearing community. She been struggling with school and even with peer and doesn't know how best to advocate for herself.

Oh a whim, she decides to apply to get a job where she felt she always fit in the most, Camp Gray Wolf.

While she is there grow and learns to not only step up and advocate for herself but feels like she finally belongs.

I love watching Lilah and all the the side characters were amazing. And this also being a romance book, I think Lilah and Isaac were perfect for each other.

I must read for everyone.

Thanks to netgalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. All thoughts are my own.

I absolutely loved this book. I am a hearing person and found it not only a joy to read but very informative. I really learned a lot by reading about Lilah’s struggles with her accommodations (many times they were ignored or not followed), her family not learning ASL since they want her to be hearing passing, her mainstream school friends not considering her needs, and more. I also appreciated Lilah’s concern about going back to camp, since she didn’t remember a lot of ASL, and was so glad (but not surprised) the other counselors were so patient and understanding. I adore stories about people finding their tribe, and I believe Lilah did.

I am a very character driven reader. In this book, all of the characters had their own unique and well developed personalities. I loved her fellow camp counselors. The lifeguards were hilarious, Isaac was the most adorable love interest ever, and Mackenzie…I appreciated her growth through the book. And oh, the campers were something else, too. Honey vs Blake really kept Lilah on her toes. I couldn’t put this book down.

I truly hope that everyone out their picks up this stunning debut novel. Solid five stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for an arc of this book.

such a great, easy, and important read! as a hearing reader, i learned a lot about the Deaf and HOH (hard of hearing) community in an easy and accessible manner. i loved seeing lilah become more comfortable with who she is, and that she owns up and learns from her mistakes when she meets them. this book has a good balance of information & actual story/plot very well. i can’t wait to read more from this author!

thank you to penguinteen for the arc!

An easy easy 5 stars. I never went to summer camp growing up but this book really made me regret not going!

First off, I thought the romance was too cute. Isaac is the sweetest, little golden retriever MMC. Lilah did annoy me at times but I came to love her! And I especially loved all her commentary and thoughts about being Deaf, Deaf culture, and how she fit in.

The part with Isaac and Lilah at the supermart made me so anxious and worried!! But I knew everything would be okay.

I definitely think everyone should read this book, we can all learn something important about Deaf culture AND you get a cute YA romance along with it too :)

Terrific story, well told. I didn't want to stop reading! I appreciate that it was a clean romance (kissing only) and that there was minimal swearing. The author did a good job showing where dialogue was signed rather than spoken--this is a challenging thing to do in written work and I thought her solution was clever. The story was a good exploration of both the challenges that people who are Deaf or have hearing loss face in the world in general and with each other, and the various ways they can choose to communicate, without being heavy-handed. I was inspired to think more about how I respond to people with hearing loss, and how I can do better. I'll look for more by this author. (Netgalley review)

4.25/5⭐️ I’ve been wanting to read this because of the disability rep and overall it was pretty good! Deaf rep is definitely lacking in books, so it was nice to see it in this and i thought it was pretty good. Overall a cute read!

This book is an amazing debut! Lilah's journey as a teen counselor at a summer camp for Deaf and Blind children is a great way to introduce readers to the diverse spectrum of Deaf, deaf, and hard of hearing individuals.

The book skillfully depicts the nuances of their identities and the varying prejudices and attitudes they face from within and outside their community. Lilah, who has hearing loss and wears hearing aids, struggles with her identity and where she fits in the middle ground between the Deaf and hearing worlds. Despite growing up with hearing parents and not knowing much ASL, she desires to be around more people like her. Throughout the summer camp, Lilah grapples with her identity and relationships, and the story provides a realistic and heartwarming account of her journey. The book is a delightful blend of language and identity exploration, new friendships, and summer romance.

As a student of ASL, I absolutely loved this book. As a Hearie, I can also recognize that sometimes (often) we are the problem.
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Lilah is HOH (Hard of Hearing) due to a congenial condition that causes progressive hearing loss. She has hearing aids and reads lips and has a little bit of ASL vocab.

Camp Gray Wolf is a summer camp for the Deaf, HOH, and visually impaired where they can go and be among friends from across the country, and just be a kid in an environment that’s specifically built for and caters to them.

Lilah has a unique position being that she has hearing aids but also can’t hear perfectly. Throughout the course of her summer as a junior counselor, she learns to love both sides of her — her Deafness doesn’t invalidate her hearing abilities, and he use of hearing aids doesn’t make her any less Deaf.

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Also. I loved when Lilah and Natasha put Mackenzie in her place about “pretending to be Deaf in public” and claiming that she is an ASL interpreter (when she’s actually a student).

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Big thanks to PenguinTeen for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this book because I haven't gotten to read much about deaf and blind people. reading in Lilah's perspective was really interesting because it dealt a lot with this "outsider" feeling and really explored the ableism experienced from family, friends, and society around her. There were a lot of moments that talked about coming to terms with identity and standing up for yourself.

I loved each of the characters and especially the found family and friendships Lilah created throughout the book. It was so cute the way Isaac and Lilah's friendship (and more?) blossomed!

I do think that the pacing of the book felt a little patchy at times where it felt like time jumped really quickly or certain things happened kind of suddenly that threw me off just a little, but overall this was a fun summer camp coming of age sort of story that I would highly recommend!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

I love the representation that was presented in this book! This book has such as great representation of the deaf community and the importance of ASL. Issac is so cute and so sweet and loved his character and how he interacted with Lilah! Let me tell you, the author really knows her stuff and her research around the deaf community as well as medical devices to help deaf patients (cochlear implants, etc.) is well written. If you want to understand the feelings as well as the experiences of someone with hearing loss as well as deafness then I recommend this book. There is TW associated with this book! Thank you Penguin Teen and Netgalley for this e-ARC

4 stars!

A wonderful book with all the camp nostalgia, summertime love, and representation that’ll make Deaf and HOH readers feel seen. I loved getting to be a part of Lilah’s journey in growing and finding herself and the sweet romance was picture perfect. So excited to read more from Anna Sortino!