Give Me a Sign was really a “trying to figure myself out” story for Lilah. She’s hard of hearing but struggles feeling she doesn’t fit anywhere: too hearing for the Deaf community, too deaf for the hearing community. So she’s actively trying to make a change by working as a junior counselor at a summer camp for deaf and blind kids.

I really felt for Lilah. She’s behind on her ASL because her family doesn’t use it. They just rely on her hearing aids and her lip reading; and I definitely can understand how exclusive that feels, like she can’t even communicate in her own home. I also thought Give Me a Sign did a great job showing the difficulties the Deaf community can have when trying to do basic tasks in the hearing world.

But the romance in the story felt pretty contrived (instalove, anyone?). And there was a lot of virtue signalling; I almost felt like I was being lectured about how terrible hearing people can be. Despite that, I thought Give Me a Sign was a really cute story and I enjoyed it. I’m always glad to see more diverse representation and I’d be happy to read more from Anna Sortino.

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group for the review copy.

Thanks so much Penguin Group and NetGalley.

This is a cute, fuss free summer camp romance novel involving the deaf/ hard of hearing community. Such an easy read with wonderful characters, and I appreciate a book for its representation! What a great debut from this author.

First, I just need to say how much I absolutely love this book! Anna Sortino packs so much heart into her debut novel. I’m already a sucker for a good summer camp novel, especially one with a cute romance, but it is the Deaf / deaf / HoH experiences at the center of this story that truly set it apart. I loved really every character in this novel, but Lilah and Isaac in particular stood apart to me. From the sweet moments, to the miscommunications as Lilah worked to improve her ASL, to the big climactic moment later in the story that truly put the realities of deafness in a hearing world that doesn’t even try to accommodate it, Sortino creates a nuanced and engaging read that I hope allows deaf / Deaf teens to see themselves, and opens up the beauty and also sometimes painful realities of this experience to folks who aren’t as familiar with it. This is a book that should be a part of all high school curriculums, in my opinion! I look forward to reading this author’s future books.

Thank you to Anna Sortino, Penguin Publishing and NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

It was a cute, almost fuss-free, romance.
I really liked the storyline, the environment in which the characters evolve, and the introduction to deaf culture. I'd never read a novel where it was so well explained. It's almost easy to forget that deaf people have it rough and some scenes showed this very well (the scene with the officer was hard to read).

But, I found it hard to get into the story, hence my rating. The plot is worth a 4 and, despite my rating, I recommend it to anyone who wants to discover deaf culture.
However, it's the characters that made it difficult for me, especially Lilah (and Mackenzie). First of all, the story is in the first person singular, and I find it very hard to get into the story with this style of writing. But Lilah's often whiny and some of her actions don't make sense.
Maybe, like some readers, I'm too old for YA romance. On the other hand, I really liked some of the other characters, like Phoebe and Ethan.

I'll say it again : it's a good novel, especially for a debut, and I'm proud of the author for writing such a book. I think it's important for the deaf community to have good representations of their community. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement with the characters, whom I failed to find endearing.

A heart felt summer romance about a Deaf girl connecting to her community and learning sign language as a counselor at a summer camp for Deaf kids. Filled with a swoon worth friends to lovers romance, incredible commentaries on the alienation of deaf people, and how good it feels to find your people.

Plot: 4/5
A coming of age story that takes place over the course of summer camp. The story built on itself really well. The main outside struggle in the plot was that the camp was running out of funds and was courting some new donors. Which lead to all sorts of ableist conversations and difficult interactions. There were a few awkwardly done plot points that took me out of the story a little bit.

Characters: 4/5
Lilah is in the middle of two communities. She fairs okay in the hearing world and knows a little bit of sign to pass in the deaf world. But she doesn’t know where she fits best or where she wants to be. Her character growth is transformative as she learns about the Deaf community and where she fits in it.

Isaac was such a great character, his dynamics with Lilah and the other counselors were well developed but, because of their limited conversation ability for most of the book, we don’t get a lot of his backstory.

Some of the interactions with campers were kind of cringy. I know these are just slightly older teenagers, but they weren’t really the best at dealing with difficult children.

Writing: 4/5
Sortino has a style that fits with YA contemporary books really well. She puts a powerful message in an easily digestible format. The choices she made to communicate sign language and finger spelling in the text were clever as well. Though I am curious how it would translate to an audiobook.

Overall: 4/5


The representation for both the hard of hearing and blind communities was incredible. It warms my heart that this book will be on shelves for everyone to read and experience. Even though the book wasn’t perfect for me, it will be for many readers and there is a lot of value to be gained from it. There were aspects of both disabilities I’d never considered and it was a really eye opening experience that I’m so glad I got to have.

I dnf’ed at page 276.

The concept and execution of the premise is well done. And it’s eye opening. While by no means a catch all for what the deaf community goes through, it offer some insight.

But there was no sense of urgency. There wasn’t really anything the characters were fighting for.

Lilah and Isaac kinda get together in the middle. Then have a reasonable spat. Then are back together. And there’s still 50 pages left.

The same is true of the camp funding plot line.

This is the second book I've read in the past two months of a girl dealing with feelings of not being accepted in her community because of her deafness and I'm thoroughly delighted to have another book speaking about deafness . Lilah attends a deaf/blind camp as a junior counselor. She discovers a community and culture that accepts her deafness and gives her self esteem. While revealing to us the thoughts of Lilah and the difficulties the deaf in a hearing world the story has the regular drama and of course, romance, to keep the reader entertained.

This book was so cute! I’ve been going to summer camp myself since I was 8 and I was so excited to have a book with that setting! This book taught me so much as well, this will sound ignorant, but I am hearing and never really thought about how much deaf people struggle with their identity and how hard it is for them. It really opened my eyes to others’ experiences and I will forever hold this information in my mind. I think everyone, hearing or Deaf, should read this book! ❤️

I was so excited to read this book and did not disappoint! I read YA from time to time, as I'm always a little hesitant of the way characters and plots are usually written but I can 100% say this book was so endearing, with every charactering having its own strengths and flaws, but you end up loving them all nonetheless. I enjoyed the entire storyline, all the friendships, the lessons learned and progress in each of their lives. It was all so beautiful to read. In terms of the representation of deafness, I am in no position to comment on its execution as I am not part of it. However, I can say that although this book is not meant to be a guide to ASL or communication within the deaf community, I was able to learn so much about their experiences and preferences. It made me appreciate the beauty they have found in communication and the support that comes with it. This was a wonderful read, thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝙅𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝘾𝙊𝘿𝘼 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙞𝙜-𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙔𝘼 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙛 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥.

📍 Read if you like:
• Summer Camp
• Diverse Characters
• Friends To Lovers
• Deaf Culture Rep

This may be a Young Adult book, but oh man, it was beautifully written and I loved the representation of the Deaf community. It made me want to learn ASL immediately.

It also has a summer camp setting which was so fun. I’ve only been to summer camp once in my life and this book brought back so many memories. I enjoyed it so much more than I was expecting to.

There’s such a diverse cast of characters, which I always love. They’re also very lovable and you end up rooting for them the whole time. Fitting in is something this book discusses and I think it was done perfectly.

There’s also a friends-to-lovers trope, which isn’t a trope I gravitate towards, but I think it was so intriguing in this one. I loved Lilah & Issac (and all the side characters).

This book is definitely worth the read. It does read juvenile at times, but it is YA so makes sense! I loved the setting so much and the characters! The representation of the Deaf community and finding your community is done so well! The storytelling is worth the read!

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Ableism

I was very excited to read this book because of the deaf representation that is so hard to find in literature, however the format of the arc is very hard to read as it appears to be uploaded as just a scanned PDF so the file on the NetGalley app is zoomed super far out and does not let you make the text bigger and the file on Kindle/download is not formatted at all. Due to these reasons I was unable to read the book, but I hope to be able to purchase a copy once it is published!

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!

Give Me A Sign is a wonderful introduction into the Deaf community for YA readers! Lilah is hard of hearing and has always felt out of place - her parents have pushed her to fit into the hearing world and never had her learn sign language growing up. She has hearing aids and struggles to try and be a normal hearing person. Her sanctuary growing up is Camp Grey Wolf, a Deaf camp where she's picked up sign language and found a place where she belongs. This summer, she's a junior counselor at Camp Grey Wolf and is ready for the best summer ever. She has a little bit of a rough start but finds a community again at Camp Grey Wolf and loves the freedom of being a counselor. What she didn't expect at camp this summer was finding love, but camp has a way of bringing people together. A wonderful novel of the Deaf community, coming of age, summer time and fitting in. 4.5 stars from me!

The cover is beautiful!!

This is a wonderful coming of age story for Lilah, she just finished up her junior year of high school and is wanting to get away for the summer. She is stuck in a world where she doesn't fit in, she feels like she is in the middle, like she doesn't fit in with the hearing world or the deaf world. She is tired of trying to adjust to accommodate everyone else. She remembers a time when her life was easier, when she was at Camp Gray Wolf, so she decides to apply to be a camp counselor.

When Lilah gets to camp, she meets Isaac, at first Isaac and Lilah have a hard time communicating since Lilah's doesn't know ASL quite as well as she would like too. The longer Lilah is at camp the more she feels like she belongs in the deaf community, and she has found her place in the world. Isaac is so sweet and kind to Lilah and makes sure she understands what he is signing. Isaac and Lilah's friendship blooms in a beautiful relationship.

As a hearing individual, this book really opened my eyes to things I didn't quite fully understand about the world around me to individuals with hearing disabilities. The author really put her heart and soul into this story.

This is a heartwarming, relatively low angst (except for one tense moment involving police) coming of age story as Lilah learns to embrace Deaf culture while working as a camp counselor for Deaf and HOH kids. Despite the cover, there is some romance, but it's not very central to the story. Lilah spends much more time with an ensemble cast of characters, all of whom have a different perspective on deafness and disability, rather than with the love interest.

Mostly this book spends a lot of time explaining and describing Deaf culture. I think this book is very important for both hearing and Deaf kids who have hearing parents from a representation standpoint.

Unfortuntely, the book falls short on storytelling. It felt more educational than really plot or character driven. We learn very little about the characters outside of their Deaf identities, including the main character, which makes them feel very one dimensional. There are also many details that seem unnecessary and don't move the story forward, like Lilah describing how she gets some specific but irrelevant item out of her backpack, etc. It felt like a lot of filler.

Overall a decent debut novel and an ownvoices story, hopefully the author will grow with future works.

(My review is for an ARC courtesy of Netgalley, not the final published work.)

Thank you Netgalley for this arc!

This debut novel follows Lilah as she becomes a counselor at summer camp for the deaf and blind. I really enjoyed seeing Lilah becoming more comfortable with herself. Lilah spends time connecting with other campers and I really enjoyed seeing her opening to others. I hope more people will be able to read this book. While this book was cute and fluffy, it does explore a serious situation which involves the police. While the author does handle the issue fairly, I wished there was a trigger warning. Otherwise, this book will have an impact on its readers through its discussions of dealing with the hearing world, the improvement of accommodating people with disabilities and different reactions to people's disabilities.

The biggest and most important aspect of this book is about deafness and with it being set at a deaf camp. I really enjoyed reading and learning more about this disability. It’s a charming, fun, informative book about a young girl finding comfort in her own body and flirting with a fellow camp counselor who’s a real sweetheart. This was all around a very wholesome story.

My main critique is it reads fairly young for the age the characters are supposed to be. So at times the dialogue felt a bit off and Lilah had me rolling my eyes at some of her comments/inner thoughts. But it still was a fun read and definitely an informative ya book that isn’t just about a cute summer romance!

My rating is really a 3.5!

Loved this!!! First off I love ASL it is such a beautiful and fun language. So this representation was wonderful to read about. This story had amazing characters and a very cute love story! I really enjoyed it and I cannot wait to read more books by this author

I was so sad that this book ended. I wanted more to read! But isn't that what we want from good things?

The main character from the beginning shows her resilience and strength, as well as the problems she faces with her disability in the real world. This is because, then we are taken to the Summer Camp, where everyone is welcomed and the campers feel accepted and included, even despite the communication barriers.
It is a place where the characters feel strong about their disabilities and where they discover and form their identities with them.
It's really nice to see the characters gain confidence in themselves.
And then we are presented with the contrast of the world outside the summer camp, the difficulties they face and the problems that occur because of poor communication and the world not making the effort to accommodate people with disabilities.
It is very beautiful to see her at the beginning having problems understanding herself, feeling in the middle of those who hear and those who are deaf. But in the end appreciate getting a little bit of both to be able to connect other campers to each other.
I felt her growth.
And all the other characters were exceptional, they brought a different perspective on deafness. It gave us a broad view of what this disability is and showed us the Deaf culture.
With also having a romance that was so adorable and sweet.
I really enjoyed seeing them together.
I really enjoyed the book and wanted more to read.

This book was a good YA book that shares a point of view many of us do not have. I like how there’s representation for the deaf community and gives hearing readers like myself a glimpse of some of the challenges people who are deaf face.