*thank you Penguin Randomhouse for an eARC in exchange for review*

This story follows Lilah, a hard of hearing (HOH) girl who goes to a hearing (mainstreamed) school and remembers going to Deaf Summer Camp fondly. When talking to her friends about a summer job before senior year, she decides to reach out to a friend she knows is now Assistant Director of the camp and BOOM she's got the job!

This story is one part summer YA romance, three part Deaf education. For context, I am a professional ASL interpreter who is working on my certification at the time of writing this review. I found that all the education aspects were great in this story. There are so many things the Deaf community deals with from parents of Deaf children not being on board with ASL as true access and feeling that oralism is the only choice to the broader and scarier things that can happen in a situation with police when a Deaf person is interacting with them.

That said, I felt like there were too many things put into this cute summer romance. And to me, that screams that there is not enough rep of Deaf identity on our shelves. One author shouldn't have to feel like every circumstance needs to be covered in one novel just in case there's never another Deaf story out there.

The things I did love was the adorable romance and the summer camp setting. I loved how ASL was described for the reader to give the context of varying signs like the difference between making out and work. I loved the diversity and the addition of Blind characters and getting a little more information for myself about things that Blind people also have for access because I'm still new to that community as well. I also loved (and cringed) at seeing the perspective of the learning hearing interpreter in the mix of these characters.

Overall, especially if you're interested in the educational piece of the Deaf community and what growing up Deaf feels like for some people, this is a good book to turn to. I think it could open people's eyes to realizing that learning the ABC's and how to say bull-shit isn't enough and it isn't even cool. It would be a lot cooler to learn the language and take part in making your community more accessible for those who share it with you.

Oh I really, really enjoyed this book.

I was a huge fan of the book Tru Biz and the tv show Switched at Birth. I felt like they really made me think about things. This book, Give me a Sign, makes the reader think about more than their own place in the world. And it teaches us too. I love when a book helps me learn and helps me understand more.

In this story, we meet Lilah. She was born with hearing loss. Her parents aren’t deaf but her little brother also has hearing loss. Her parents don’t use asl and haven’t really encouraged Lilah to either. She goes to a public school and uses hearing aids. Both those around her, both teachers and friends, often forget that she can’t hear everything.

Lilah decides to spend the summer at a deaf and blind camp she attended a few years ago. She will be a junior camp counselor this year. And she will learn more signing while she’s there.

Lilah realizes pretty quickly that while she doesn’t totally fit in at public school that she also doesn’t totally fit in with her deaf and hard of hearing camp. She debates whether she isn’t “deaf enough” and if her asl isn’t strong enough.

This was a beautiful coming of age story about Lilah getting to know herself better and her place in the world.

I really, really enjoyed it. I wish they’d make it into a tv series so I could spend more time with these characters.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley, thank you!

A wonderful, if 101ish, story about a hard of hearing teen becoming comfortable in her Deaf identity.

I love the range of experiences introduced at Camp Gray Wolf. Lilah was mainstreamed and her parents pushed her to be hearing-passing.. Isaac is profoundly deaf. voice-off, and fluent in sign language. Natasha grew up in a Deaf family but chose to get a cochlear implant due to frustrations over accessibility.. Ethan is wears hearing aids and switches seamlessly between sign and speech. And so on....not to mention the low-vision campers!

The summer camp setting is cute and provides relatively low stakes conflicts, giving Lilah's character development the time it needs over the two months of camp. Although there is romance, the primary story isn't A Romance, which is a pleasant surprise in YA. Lilah has enough to worry about without hyperfocusing on a boy!

And it's really cool to see Lilah become more fluent with ASL throughout the summer, to the point where she defaults signing to hearing people and having to catch herself. The power of language immersion!

My one quibble is over how much Lilah lectures the reader about Deaf struggles and culture. It's still utterly enjoyable and readable, it just drags in a few places.

The author, Anna Sorrentino, is Deaf. She notes that there as many Deaf perspectives as Deaf people in the world, and this is just a handful of them. <3

This book is adorable and showcases multiple different ways of being Deaf. I really appreciate that the main character is hard of hearing and is still learning sign language. That’s a segment of the Deaf community I have not seen represented. Plus, I know some families who want their children to be hearing-passing, and I can only imagine the struggle they face. This book showcases that struggle well with compelling characters in a summer camp setting that will relate to hearing and Deaf readers alike.

I'm torn. Everything about Deaf culture was a win. But everything else ... the pace was too slow, the plot too thin, the characters too many in number and without the necessary distinguishing features ... This might be one of those books you go back to for validation or a down-to-earth example of what it's like for kids who are Deaf, slice-of-life fashion.

Omg, I loved this so much (despite the insta-love)!! This is a very good rep of Deaf culture and the struggles one may have finding their identity in the world. I love the point made that it’s up to the person, it doesn’t matter what others think, because it’s all variable. I grew up with a friend who is Deaf, and was mainstreamed in a public school. She definitely didn’t have to struggle with trying to hear everything, she used sign and had interpreters, and a good friend group where most were fluent in sign. But I remember the time she won a boombox and they were going to redraw a name because she was deaf (I wouldn’t have let that slide, but her interpreter - who could also advocate for her - stepped in before I could.

This book is so incredible, and I regret it took me so long to finally read it, but it was worth the wait. This is such an incredible story of identity and culture and community, and the impact having access to language shapes experiences. This obviously has so much care and love woven into the story, and I found it impossible to put it down. I also loved that so many different experiences were shown and described, with no experience being pushed as the one true and correct way to be D/Deaf or disabled. I look forward to future books from Sortino and am so glad this book exists!

This was a fun contemporary YA. I don't read a lot of YA but I really enjoyed this one and realness of emotion that was woven throughout it.

I am obsessed with this book. It’s so swoony and I love the depiction of deafness. The author’s lived experience gives this a solidly grounded feeling and she’s crafted a fun romance.

This book just wasn’t for me. I felt like the pacing was a little too slow and I never found myself eager to pick the book back up. It wasn’t the writing that I didn’t care for but the development of the story.

The cover of this book is what enticed me to read it. The story was lovely, but perhaps I've grown out of YA romance.

Sometimes you just find a book with the words you need to hear, or maybe the book finds you? That's what I felt with Give Me a Sign. Apart from the representation, this one is enjoyable and it also opens your eyes, learning about life as you go on. Definitely give this one a chance!

I was really excited for Give Me a Sign because of the Deaf rep and the summer camp setting! This was a nice coming of age book that explored Deafness and there was a lot I learned about the culture throughout. There was some angst and drama, but it all ends nicely. I love a good summer romance, so I enjoyed the summer camp aspects a lot!

4.5 Stars.

I really enjoyed this book, in fact, I binged it in one sitting. The characters, the romance, and the discussions in this book were quite amazing to read.

I really loved seeing different characters with different thoughts and feelings towards their deafness and interacting with both deaf and hearing communities. I for one empathised when Lilah expressed feelings of wishing she was fully deaf to make it easier to fit into parts of the community or for hearing people to not underestimate her disability. While I am not Deaf I do find myself having similar thoughts about my own diagnoses. I, from a Hearing perspective, felt the way the author wrote the interactions in this book, either between Hearing and Deaf or Deaf and Deaf did a good job of exposing readers both to issues the Deaf Community faces as well as how communicating with other Deaf people can be an entirely different and refreshing experience, without feeling like the story was being paused to educated readers.

I felt a sense of pride reading Lilah's grasp and usage of ASL expand as the story goes on.

The characters in this book were so well written, they practically jumped off the page. Their varying personalities and the different dynamics and friendships being formed were a treat to read.

Finally, the romance in this book was quite cute and I was rooting for it from the start. I loved the development and a few bumps were handled very well and were written realistically.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To all my YA lovers, do I have the book for you! Anna Sortino’s debut novel, Give Me a Sign, (which comes out on July 11th) takes a fun summer camp novel, but shares it through the lens of a different narrator.

This debut novel was fantastic! As someone who isn’t deaf and barely knows the ASL Alphabet, I was so interested in this story from the beginning and immediately fell in love with this glimpse into the diversity of the Deaf community that this book offered.

I loved all of the characters and how each of them represented varying types of deafness and how Lilah, our main character, learns to connect with her community and learn more about herself over the course of the story.

Aside from being informative about the Deaf community, this book also has all of the fun summer camp and teenage summer romance vibes I always look for in YA books! I binge-read this book in about 24 hours and I loved how easy it was to fall in love with this story and the character in it.

For anyone looking for a summertime read that offers insight into someone else’s experiences as a disabled person, then I definitely recommend checking this book out!
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*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest review.

Does anyone else remember the 2012 craze that was “The Fault In Our Stars”…. Yep, guilty as charged, I was one of those girlies. Honestly, I can’t say I ever outgrew that craze. And I was a lucky girl who was gifted this copy from @penguinteen and was immediately transported back to that time period. That being said, SPOILER- This one was WAY LESS devastating (my poor little heart appreciated that)

🏕️Sunmer camo for deaf, and hard of hearing teens
🏕️Slow burn
🏕️Friends to lovers
🏕️Coming of age vibes
🏕️Single POV
🏕️ Finding power in who you are

🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️

BLURB:
Lilah is stuck in the middle. At least, that’s what having a hearing loss seems like sometimes—when you don’t feel “deaf enough” to identify as Deaf or hearing enough to meet the world’s expectations. But this summer, Lilah is ready for a change.

When Lilah becomes a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind, her plan is to brush up on her ASL. Once there, she also finds a community. There are cute British lifeguards who break hearts but not rules, a YouTuber who’s just a bit desperate for clout, the campers Lilah’s responsible for (and overwhelmed by)—and then there’s Isaac, the dreamy Deaf counselor who volunteers to help Lilah with her signing.

Romance was never on the agenda, and Lilah’s not positive Isaac likes her that way. But all signs seem to point to love. Unless she’s reading them wrong? One thing’s for sure: Lilah wanted change, and things here . . . they're certainly different than what she’s used to.

🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️🏕️

As mentioned, this book was a really heart warming story of first love, that was cute, but also filled with deeper meaning. While this book gave me John Green vibes, as mentioned, this book won’t tear your heart out. Instead, it’ll take you back to the year 2012, when the “teens questioning the deeper meaning of life” genre was HUGE. I loved this, and I definitely recommend it if you were a John Green stan like I was.

Heat Level: 🔥

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. I’ve been feeling very guilty that it is taking me so long to get through books. Life has gotten very busy - my apologies to the publisher.

Give Me A Sign was a valuable read for me, as it further ignited my wish to learn Auslan, and gave me wonderful insights into deaf culture. I found the little romance plot very sweet, and the “summer camp” vibes came through.

I struggled a little with the pacing - there was a lot of action at the end, but the start was slow and meandering. I think I would have been more hooked with a change of pace.

In short: a delightful YA read that highlighted important info about deaf culture and inclusivity.

I really loved this book, it has wonderful representation and nails the summer camp vibe. As a hearing person, I felt like this gave me a glimpse into another perspective and rekindled my interest in learning to sign. This is a welcome addition to our library collection.

This is such an accessible introduction to Deaf culture & will mean so much to so many Deaf & HOH kids. I learned so much as a hearing reader, on top of feeling all the summer camp nostalgia.

I loved this book! I never got to go to camp as a kid, so camp settings have always interested me. That it's an ASL camp just made it even more intriguing. The characters are what really drives this story, and they are all fantastic. This was a lighthearted, quick read - it was exactly what I needed.