I am absolutely blown away by this book. The Sign for Home is a touching, moving and amazing coming of age story about a man named Arlo. Now, if you've read the blurb you know there's A LOT going on in this book. Arlo is smart and articulate, he has so many thoughts and questions. He's handsome, inquisitive and a really good friend, he also happens to be DeafBlind and a Jehovah's Witness.

I say this is coming of age because we really get a full spectrum of Arlo's childhood to where he is now as a 23 year old man.

Arlo lives with his uncle, Father Birch. He attends college and has an interpreter who has been with him since he was younger named Molly (to be honest it took me awhile to warm up to her) but now he has added an additional interpreter, Cyril who just happens to be gay....that's not going to go over well with his strict guardian and add Cyril's inappropriate Belgium bestfriend Hanne to the mix (she's a handful) there's a lot more things being introduced into Arlo's mostly stringent life.

I was glued to my seat everytime I opened this book. I was obsessed with all the things I was learning about, a whole community I have no access to and was very ignorant about. You can tell Blair has immersed his life into this community and cares deeply for it. The Sign for Home speaks of diversity and equality, it highlights the need of access to information and inclusion and it stole my heart!

I love when I learn new things through books. Tactile sign language is something I didn’t even know it existed, and yet it makes sense. This book tells the story of Arlo, a DeafBlind man that was raised under the Jeovah Witness religion. He didn’t learn sign language until later in life so he struggles to communicate even in writing. He wants to take a college class on writing and for that he needs a second interpreter, and that’s how he gets to know Cyril. As he opens up about his life - both to talk to the new interpreter and also as part of the assignments for his writing class - he starts to question the decisions that his family made for him throughout his life and he starts to want more independence.

Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Coming of Age
Warnings: Ableism, Forced Institutionalization, Child Abuse, Alcoholism

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Things I loved: This was such a lovely, quirky story about found families and coming of age. I loved learning more about the DeafBlind community and learning along side of these characters. I loved how Cyril introduces Arlo to different ideas and challenges what he has been taught. Arlo learning to advocate for himself.

Things I didn’t care for: It did take me a bit to get into this one as the book was different than advertised, one would think it would have more romance with the summary, adjust your expectations for this! There were so many characters, I feel like somethings you got lost. The ending was a bit abrupt.

Ahh man this one got me right in the feelings y’all. You know how readers always talk about whether a good plot or good characters make a book great? Reading this one reminded me that an amazing character can be really special for me. ⁣
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From the synopsis: Arlo Dilly is young, handsome and eager to meet the right girl. He also happens to be DeafBlind, a Jehovah’s Witness, and under the strict guardianship of his controlling uncle. His chances of finding someone to love seem slim to none.⁣
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And yet, it happened once before: many years ago, at a boarding school for the Deaf, Arlo met the love of his life—a mysterious girl with onyx eyes and beautifully expressive hands which told him the most amazing stories. But tragedy struck, and their love was lost forever.⁣
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Or so Arlo thought.⁣
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Arlo completely won me over almost immediately, he made me laugh, he made me cry and he also warmed my heart. This was such a unique and quirky read about found family, finding your place in the world and finding your true home. The audio version was so good, the author narrated himself which is risky but it paid off here for sure! Definitely recommend this one if you want something different ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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Thanks to the tagged partners for my copy.

This took a while to get into, but I pushed through because the premise was so enticing and the characters were endearing. The plot and setting is so unique and has a diverse cast of characters. I was very interested to read about the DeafBlind community.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unplanned, this is the second book I've read recently that has dealt with a disabled person being abused in conservator/guardianship situation. Perhaps it is worse in this case because Arlo may be physically disadvantaged but he could be fully independent if his guardians didn't deprive him of support and lie to him. I spent the book getting angry on Arlo's behalf while also cheering for Arlo, and his terp (interpreter) Cyril to find themselves and their own happy endings. But, while there is a love interest in the story, I did not feel this was a romance. Or maybe it wasn't a traditional romance? Instead the romance felt a subplot to Arlo's coming of age. And this is coming from someone who doesn't like romance! My only criticism of the book was how abrupt the ending felt. After several hundred pages of getting to know these characters, I felt like a bit more time could have been taken at the end to bask a bit in the closure.

I think there is a great story hidden somewhere in this book-but the muddle story line and way too many characters made it impossible to find it.

Arlo is a 23-year old DeafBlind Jehovah's Witness with an old seeing-eye dog named Snap. He lives with his overbearing uncle who has finally allowed him to take classes at a nearby community college. Molly, Arlo's longtime interpreter, support service provider, and fellow JW is not pleased when a new interpreter joins their team - Cyril, a middle-aged gay man still coping with the loss of his partner and fears around working with the DeafBlind. The writing class Arlo is taking starts to unlock old memories and past trauma - of Arlo's time in a school for the deaf and the friends and love he found there, of the death of his mother and the treatment from his uncle - and the longer Cyril works with Arlo, the more they change one another. When Arlo learns that his memories and what he has been told about his past may not be true, he starts to fight for a different future.

This book taught me a lot about a community about whom I knew very little. Peppered with information about interpretation, accessibility, ASL (American Sign Language), and language acquisition, the book was engaging and informative, without being too technical. In many cases, it felt like I was learning alongside the characters, which I really enjoyed. I would be interested to know what members of the Deaf and DeafBlind community think about the book and its portrayal of their communities, as well as reactions from Jehovah's Witnesses. The highlight of the book was the way in which the two narrators - Arlo and Cyril - influence and change one another. Cyril introduces new concepts to Arlo like the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and pushes for him to have more autonomy and access than he had before, sparking Arlo's own push for independence and agency that drives much of the action in the book. At times heartbreaking, this book made me keep coming back to find out how Arlo's story would end and whether or not he would find out what happened to his lost sweetheart. I look forward to more from Blair Fell.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Sign for Home early in exchange for an honest review!

A fascinating, emotional, and lovely novel. Arlo's life has been limited by the fact that he is deaf blind and by his uncle, a forceful Jehovah Witness with many rules. Molly has always been his interpreter but now he has convinced his uncle to allow him to take a writing class and he needs a second one- which is where Cyril comes in. They change each others' lives in so many ways. Arlo has a tragic love story in his past, one he's been told to shove down but now, at the urging of his professor and with the help of Cyril and his friend Hanne, it's coming back up. This moves back and forth in time between Arlo's time at a boarding school and the present, as Arlo begins to navigate beyond the basement of his uncle's home and the bologna sandwich he's been fed every day for lunch since forever. He understands much more than anyone realizes until Cyril and Hanne and now he's advocating for himself. I learned a great deal about the deaf blind community, ASL, and other ways it communicates. These are vibrant characters with huge personalities. This is surprisingly suspenseful with an ending that I won't spoil. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This would make a wonderful movie - it's a terrific read.

I absolutely love a story that has representation in it and this is an excellent book for it. Having either blind of deaf representation is fantastic in and of itself but the author does an excellent job of representing the DeafBlind character Arlo. This book is described as a romance novel however I think it should be marketed as a coming of age story because it is a fantastic one! I have never read a narrative that changes like this one does so it took me a few chapters to adjust however once I was used to it I really liked the writing style. Overall this was a really good book that I look forward to reading again.

I absolutely loved this book, because it was so joyous and hopeful, and it taught me a lot about how much ability someone with a disability can have. The central character is Arlo Guthrie who was born deaf with a small amount of sight. He is slowly losing the little sight that he had and when the book opens, he is in college and only has a pinhole of sight left in one eye.

His family's religion is Jehovah's Witness. When his mother got sick, his uncle took him away from his home and put him in a boarding school for the deaf and blind. While he was at the boarding school, he made friends and also fell in love. I absolutely fell in love with Arlo and the two boys who were his best friends. When they went on adventures, Arlo had the most sight so he would take the lead (with his white stick) to check for obstacles. The other two formed a chain behind him, with kid2 holding his shoulder and kid3 holding kid2's shoulder. They were so excited and happy. One of them had been born with no eyes at all, and the other one was called Big Headed George because his head was huge. They talked about girls, and all the things that young boys on the cusp of puberty talk about. With everything they had against them, they were so adventurous and joyful.

Arlo's controlling uncle got wind that he had a girlfriend, and took him away from his school and his new friends suddenly, with no way to communicate with any of them. He was in community college when his regular interpreter (who reported everything about him to his uncle) got sick and he was given a new interpreter - who opened a new world for him. He taught Arlo better sign language and different techniques of communicating, and best of all, didn't hide information from him. Arlo and his new interpreter and his best friend go on a quest - to find his lost love and his two old best friends.

I learned a lot when reading this book. Arlo, for example, uses tactile sign language since he isn't sighted. This means that the signs are made on his hands so that he can feel them. There are new advances too where interpreters give their clients the *feel* of what is going on around them - like thrumming on their backs when there is applause or when people stomp their feet, and tracing on their backs where things are in the room - so that they know where they are in the room, and what is going on, completely present.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is about a young man who is set free, finds his friends, and finds the love of his life. His interpreter who is with him for this journey is also a marvelous character. I received an advance reading copy from Atria Books via NetGalley. It was my pleasure to read and review it.

WOW is one way to describe this book. I mean seriously wow. This book took me so far out of my own world and gave me both a sense of total dread and heartbreak as well as feelings of love and light. The story is told in dual first person POV. One POV was that of Arlo Dilly a person who happens to be DeafBlind. Arlo's POV uses his own voice, which as I learned is very different from the vernacular that I might use as a person who is neither deaf nor blind. The other POV is that of one of his tactile interpreter. By reading both voices we learn so much about how the world treats or overlooks a person who is DeafBlind and that was honestly heartbreaking from bullying at school to his overprotective guardian limiting his access to information to his long-term interpreter to not even giving him options to the point that he eats the same meal daily until he finds out other things are available. JUST freaking WOW. I was drawn in by everything and I wanted to rage with Arlo multiple times. The entire story was eye opening and engaging, everything felt like it moved at a quick pace and in the end left me feeling hopeful for Arlo's future. I highly recommend you bring a box of tissues and also maybe a pillow you can punch when you decide that the world sucks and you need to take out your rage.

I initially was grabbed by this cover and title. But after hearing some reviews and seeing some of the problematic writing in just the first 50 pages, I have decided that I will not be able to read/review this book.

Near perfect really. A few questionable details with some inconsistencies but forgive them because the story was so damn good. New and fresh, heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. The author takes a lot of time to educate the reader on ASL and tactile communication. I learned quite a bit of information I had previously had no idea about.

Arlo was an absolute gem. I loved the writing from the point of view of a non-hearing person. It’s something I never thought about really. Tense in ASL, pronouns, grammar. It varies so much.

I couldn’t put this book down and read it one sitting.

Oh my God, this book. I have so many feelings about this book.

The Sign for Home is a story about Arlo, who is DeafBlind and a Jehovah's Witness, and living with his controlling uncle and his interpreter, Molly, who goes along with and enforces the uncle - Brother Birch's strict rules. He has very little exposure to the world, but he is starting a college English course over the summer before he is supposed to fly to Ecuador at the end of the summer for a year-long mission-trip with his uncle. He does also have his guide dog, Snap, who is so sweet and adorable.

His life changes when he hires a second interpreter to help him during his classes so that Molly doesn't get too tired, as she has to translate for him the rest of the day (and sign language, especially Tactile Sign Language, is very hard on the arms, from what I've learned from the book). He hires Cyril, a 40-year-old gay red-haired interpreter with a fierce desire to leave their town (Poughskeepie), a temper, and a fierce desire to advocate for the consumers he translates for, despite the fact that he's not looking forward to returning to Tactile.

Cyril's life also changes when he meets Arlo. He quickly discovers that Arlo has been given very little agency in his life, despite how bright and observant Arlo is. Arlo can tell who someone is by the feel of their hands when they communicate in Tactile with him or when he shakes hands with them, by the tread of their feet, by the smell of their breath or perfume or deodorant. Cyril and Arlo both learn from each other - Cyril develops a love for Tactile despite his previous hatred of it, a deep respect for Arlo's abilities, a reluctant fondness for him though he knows he should be merely Arlo's interpreter and not his friend, and he wants to help Arlo gain more access and agency. Arlo only learns about the Americans with Disabilities Act from Cyril, and he doesn't realize he can make his own decisions until Cyril starts prompting him to, asking what Arlo wants, versus what is easiest for the interpreters. Arlo also becomes friends with Cyril's Belgian friend, Hanne, who also wants to help Arlo.

However, when Arlo begins his class, he's faced with a writing assignment that triggers flashbacks from his past, and requires him to face parts of his past that he's been trying to bury for six years. He begins thinking about his highschool sweetheart (a school for the deaf and blind) who had a tragic accident and whom Arlo can't forget. When Arlo learns new information about her, he is determined to find a way to meet her, despite Molly and Brother Birch's protests, and Brother Birch's punishments that are increasingly limiting what little contact with the outside world he does have. This quest of him quickly and abrasively upsets not only his life by Cyril's as well.

The Sign for Home was completely different from how I thought it would be, but at the same time I still loved it, which I knew I would when I first read the synopsis. I was expecting it to be more of a rom-com, but it was instead more of a introspective coming-of-age novel, not only for Arlo, but also for Cyril, who has been trying to move on from a past trauma for years and has failed. Working with Arlo inspires Cyril's passion for interpreting and advocating for Deaf and DeafBlind rights and access, but that newfound passion is challenged when it's suddenly and unjustly taken away from him, and in his frequent clashes with Molly, and then with Brother Birch.

I hadn't been expecting to have so much time in the interpreter's pov, considering he was barely mentioned in the summary, but I loved Cyril, even more than I loved Arlo (though I love him too. And Snap, of course.) But I also loved the way Arlo's chapters were written, even though I'm not normally a fan of second pov, but it somehow really works and goes well with Arlo's personality. I wasn't a huge fan of the flashbacks, but they were necessary, and I did like the information we got out of them, and the characters they introduced, who were also necessary for the plot.

I really loved reading about Arlo's relationship with both Molly and Cyril. I'd love to see more books exploring more of the relationship between the Deaf and DeafBlind with their interpreters. I think it must be a really fascinating relationship.

I'm really glad I read this book and I think it's really important. While I always had an interest in learning about deafness/blindness/the DeafBlind, as I had an obsession with Helen Keller as a kid and watched The Miracle Worker obsessively, as well as reading the Helen Keller biography we had so much it started falling apart, it's still not something I know much about. I definitely want to start putting in more effort to research it and learn more about communicating and also just seeing how technology and new developments to sign language have evolved to increasingly aid their accessa and communication with the world. (I went to a convention once, and in the General Assemblies, there was a Deaf girl in the front row who had an interpreter by the stage, and honestly just watching the interpreter was what kept me awake during the assemblies.) While I sometimes I have a hard time understanding how sign language works, especially Tactile, Protactile, and haptics, it's all incredibly fascinating. (Also in the book, I had just made the connection that sign language grammar structure seems to be similar to Mandarin - which I have studied - and then literally a minute later Cyril mentioned it. I was so happy.)

Also the author, Blair Fell, has been an ASL and Tactile interpreter for 30 years, and he had his Deaf and DeafBlind friends read it for issues, as well as DeafBlind sensitivity readers. I thought that was really cool.

Anyway, I think this book was a wonderful read, but also important and necessary, and I'm hoping to see more books with DeafBlind main characters (and their interpreters), and hopefully more of books with those characters from Blair Fell, as well.

Also I loved how the title came to make sense at the end, and it was so sweet.

I have never wanted to hug a character as much as I want to hug Arlo Dilly. Arlo is DeafBlind, and upon enrolling in a college writing class, he is assigned a new interpreter named Cyril. Arlo has lived a very sheltered life. After the death of his mother, he was sent to live with his uncle, also known as Brother Birch, who is a very religious Jehovah's Witness. Brother Birch is very strict, and he was definitely my least favorite character in the entire book. I like how the author described things through Arlo's "eyes" and the language he used to explain his experiences. I wanted to hug Arlo because I felt so bad at how limited his world was, and how Brother Birch used religion as a reason to treat him the way that he did. As a parent myself, I can't understand intentionally denying them access to basic human things such as social interaction and communication, yet that is what Brother Birch did. Despite all of the things that Arlo has been through, he never gives up, and after learning things through Cyril, embarks on his greatest adventure yet. There are many other characters in this book I enjoyed; from Cyril's best friend Hanne to Arlo's long lost love, Shri. Through some of the other characters like Professor Lavinia, we can see some of the prejudices and biases that society places upon those who are considered different or disabled. Shri's condition in the nursing home was heartbreaking, and I was so proud of Arlo and even Cyril, for never giving up and for doing the right thing. There are many different facets to this story, and I felt like Fell handles a lot of different topics: from Arlo's disability, to Cyril's sexual orientation, and religion. Even though we all experience that world in different ways, we are all seeking the same thing: a place to call home. Arlo is a character that I will not soon forget. Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read a copy of this book. I will post my review on my Instagram @readingmama_reviews a little closer to pub day.

The Sign for Home- Blair Fell

Wow, what a stunning first novel for Blair Fell. I will certainly be watching for more to come from this author.
Arlo Dilly is a twenty-three year old college student who is DeafBlind and a Jehovah's Witness (JW) who goes everywhere with his guide dog named Snap. His new interpreter is Cyril, a homosexual red head who is semi-new to communicating in the tactile American Sign Language (ASL) that Arlo uses. Arlo is completely sheltered, living with his uncle Brother Birch who keeps him as devout of a JW as possible and tries to smother out positive memories that Arlo behold, including his first love S. When secrets are revealed, the story turns into a hero's mission to save Arlo's true love.

The character development of both Arlo and Cyril is astonishing. They bond that they have developed throughout their differences was truly fantastic, and kept me coming back to this book for more. Learning more about their stories in their own voices and points of view was fantastic, and I feel like the reader got a better idea of who each individual was and how important they became to each other.
It is also important to note I was completely enamored with Fell's ability to describe the Deaf and DeafBlind community, and it encouraged me to learn more about this subset of humanity. It is amazing the struggles that Arlo has to deal with on a daily basis, and I feel like Fell did an amazing job of highlighting this community with almost a call to action for hearing people to do better accommodate them. I personally have no vowed to learn sign language, because this book had such a strong impact on me.

Overall, this book was absolutely fantastic, one that has stuck with me for days after finishing, which always happens with the best books. Highly recommend!

The Sign for Home is the story of Arlo Dilly a DeafBlind man. The chapters alternate between him and his interpreter Cyril. The Arlo chapters can be a bit hard to understand until you get his dialogue down, he has a different way of expressing himself. I found him quite charming and very intelligent. Cyril is also a great character that is strong-headed and funny. I found the tactile ASL stuff fascinating. I was not familiar with it. Arlo is DeafBling and uses tactile ASL. He is also a Jehovah's Witness and is starting a college course on writing which kind of puts his JW stuff out there for his teacher to read which causes some problems with his guardian Brother Bishop. The plot is interesting and the characters were very well-written. Arlo's story is heartbreaking, he is such a wonderful character you hate to see how poorly he was treated at times. All in all, it is a great story.

Really interesting read! I have had some but very little interaction with deaf/blind individuals, like Arlo, but I do know a small amount about Usher's syndrome. I think the biggest take away from this book for me was about the communication aspects with these individuals. Thinking about how life is without touching something for them, without smell, and how these senses have become so heightened to replace the senses they are missing or have lost was fascinating and challenging.

I personally feel this was more of a coming of age/independence book more so than a romance, not just for Arlo, but a little bit for Cyril too. There is a lot to unpack about the Jehovah Witness religion as well, and I'm not sure how accurate the author's portrayal is but I don't think it portrays it in an especially positive manner. This part of Arlo's life has definitely affected his maturing, his social networks, and his accessibility to live his best life with his limitations.

The last 25% of the book was a bit out there and I didn't particularly like the avenues the author took to get Arlo where he wanted to be, mostly because I felt they were far fetched and not very likely. However, up until that point I did enjoy the story. It was very enlightening, heartbreaking and educational. Arlo had such a pure soul, you wanted to just wrap him in bubble wrap but in a way that's exactly what had happened to him, shielding him from so many experiences. I would recommend this book overall to those wanting to read about nontraditional main characters or a book with a lot of heart.

This book is amazing - a must read. I learned a lot about the DeafBlind community, and really enjoyed the characters and storyline. The story is told from 2 perspectives - Arlo, a DeafBlind man (who writes in the 2nd person) and his interpreter Cyril. Arlo and Cyril are both stuck in Poughkeepsie. Arlo is under the guardianship of his uncle, a preacher in the Jehovah's Witness church. I don't know much about this community, but it seemed like it was handled really respectfully. There were some problematic issues with the church, but it was very clear why it was important to Arlo. Cyril is a 40-year-old gay man dealing with his own issues, both personally and professionally. The more I got into this book, the more I wanted to keep reading. And especially toward the end, there are some really hard parts to read. It's a good lesson in privilege from a different perspective. You really sympathize with Arlo and his fellow DeafBlind classmates, and they are victims at times, but also the book was a good reminder that if you reach past their difficulties, there is such beauty. They can still live full lives without sight and sound. The discussion of Protactile and Haptic methods was so interesting and I was glad to learn more about this. This book is going to stick with me for a while, and is my favorite so far this year.