Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino is a heartwarming read about community that is set at a summer camp. Following a camp counsellor who feels caught between Deaf and hearing worlds, this one contains a realistic main character and a nuanced exploration of Deaf culture. Those who are looking for a sweet and thoughtful summer romance will not want to miss this one.

As someone with hearing loss, Lilah struggles to fit in at her hearing school, but at the same time, she doesn’t feel “Deaf enough.” When she becomes a counsellor at a camp for Deaf and blind children, the same camp that introduced her to Deaf culture when she was younger, she finds a community and reunites with an old friend who helps her with her ASL. In the face of a few challenges thrown her way and her fear of not fitting in with the others at the camp, Lilah learns to embrace who she is and become more comfortable with her own identity.

I really enjoyed Lilah’s character and the ways she changes throughout the book. As she struggles to fit in with her hearing friends, she decides she’s ready for a change, but she still experiences some fear of not feeling at home at camp. These insecurities make her realistic, and I enjoyed watching her slowly become more comfortable in her own skin. Because her time as a camper was so empowering for her, Lilah is determined to be a role model for her own campers, and the scenes with her teaching a reluctant ASL learner to embrace the language and the culture are particularly heartwarming.

One of my favourite parts about this book are the conversations about Deaf culture. Throughout the book, Lilah feels as though she’s a burden to her hearing friends, and I enjoyed the message about the need for better accommodations in hearing culture so that hearing loss isn’t seen this way. There’s also a character who isn’t Deaf but makes money off of Deaf culture through her YouTube ASL videos, and the conversations about the need to uplift Deaf creators add more nuance to the story. I did feel like some of the messages are a little heavy-handed and can come off as preachy, but I still appreciated the inclusion of these important topics.

Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino is an uplifting story about finding one’s community. I enjoyed watching the main character flourish at camp, and the messages throughout the book add another layer of meaning. This is a great read for those who enjoy a camp setting and books about identity.

I loved this book! It caught the challenge of being Deaf in a hearing world very well. The main character is mainstreamed into a hearing class. I finished it a while ago so some of the details are fuzzy. Main character goes to a camp for the Deaf over the summer as a counselor in training after attending the camp briefly as a camper. While there she is reminded how much she wants to learn ASL. She does learn it and in the process becomes a better advocate for herself and her brother who also has a hearing loss.

A lovely summertime YA romance, with fantastic representation of Deaf characters. Protagonist Lilah is excited to be spending her summer as a junior counselor at Camp Gray Wolf, the summer camp for the deaf and blind that she used to attend as a camper. She's never felt "deaf enough", with hearing parents and going to mainstream school, and really wants to improve her ASL skills, since her family doesn't see the need to use it at home. Right away, she's intrigued by fellow counselor Isaac, and he seems happy to help with her signing. This summer will definitely be full of changes for Lilah.

This was such a sweet read. Loved the summer camp setting and adored Lilah as a protagonist. At the start, she is questioning her place in the world, and it's so nice to watch her growth and self acceptance. The Deaf representation is awesome. Very informational and eye-opening. The romance is sweet, but it's also just nice to see Lilah come to accept herself and her place in the Deaf community. Would recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

5/5 stars, one of the cutest summer camp stories I've read in quite a while

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and G.P. Putnam's Books for Young Readers for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

First and foremost, this is a fantastic book full of diverse characters and really nice connections between other characters. The deaf/hard of hearing representation in this book is utterly fantastic, and it also has blindness representation alongside it. There really needs to be more books like this because I did learn a lot about how these people find ways to function throughout their lives and adapt to different situations than those who are not deaf. It also showed a lot of the situations that these persons can find themselves in where they may experience extreme ableism. When those situations happened I found myself feeling very much the same emotions the characters were feeling, and so very appalled that people might treat them like this. This is why diverse stories are so important to have in society!

Beyond the amazing diversity and representation in this book, I've really always loved stories about summer camps. Maybe it's because I've never actually been to one so I think the idea is really fun, but this story was no exception. It gave me all the summer vibes I was hoping for, especially with how active all the characters had to be to help the kids in their group. There were some different things at this summer camp, as it was built for blind and deaf people, but it just once again helped bring a new understanding to me about how these people adapt throughout their lives.

All the characters were really a fun cast too, Lilah the main character is trying to learn ASL and so she decides to come back to this summer camp she attended as a kid, as a junior counselor. She was really relatable and I think a wonderful representation of teenagers and young adults, she was resourceful and very caring about everyone around her. Some of the other notable characters were Isaac the boy whom she ends up having a crush on, Oliver one of the lifeguards from Europe who was super sweet, Mackenzie who has some internalized ableism that is addressed through the book and is actually super sweet, and Ethan the lead counselor. These characters really created a welcoming environment for even me as a reader, I felt like I was apart of a little family with all of them as I followed their summer adventures.

The romance did feel a bit like younger ya, but considering they were at a summer camp I thought this was still appropriate. Lilah and Isaac were both very cute, and it was obvious that they liked each other even from the beginning even if there was some miscommunication. I think the development of their relationship did make sense as well considering the setting, and honestly the ending was very realistic. Obviously, just starting a romance over the summer is going to be hard, but I do have hope that they would continue their relationship based on the ending.

Overall, this was a fantastic book. There was nothing that I disliked because there was some amazing representation alongside some really sweet characters and romance. Everything about this book was the perfect summer read and more books from this author will definitely be on my radar.

[TW: deafness and hearing loss depiction, ableism, tornado and damage, police arrest and incident]

Give Me a Sign is a fun and cute read that you can read in one sitting. The characters are so cute that you get hooked fairly easily.

a super cute novel! I read it straight through

thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for this advanced copy

This story follows Lilah, a Deaf teenager struggling to figure out where she belongs. Add in a little summer camp romance, and this is a YA read I highly recommend. Sortino, who herself is hearing impaired, does a great job of outlining the everyday difficulties people like Lilah and her Deaf or visually impaired friends go through on a daily basis. A very informative and realistic read.

Oh my heart what a beautiful story of overcoming life's many obstacles. I didn't want this read to end!

This is a must read.

5 stars. one of the most beautiful books i've ever read <3

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.

I’m soooo sad to DNF this at 25%!! What an important story in regards to deaf and hard of hearing representation. I really wanted to love this but the storyline and characters fell super flat for me. I was forcing myself to keep reading and pretending to be invested when I really wasn’t. I wish I’d felt connected to the characters but it felt contrived, cheesy, and way too YA. I loved the representation so much though and the audio was well done also. Thanks anyway for the ARC!!

I was lucky enough to receive this book as an ARC.

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 Lilah wanted change, and things here . . . they're certainly different than what she’s used to.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the whole storyline behind this book. I really liked Lilah and Isaac’s characters!! This book provided a perspective into the deaf and blind community and was written perfectly. Being able to see multiple perspectives on everyday life for people who suffer with a loss of hearing was really eye opening. I love how this story was written and I couldn’t put it down!

I definitely recommend reading this book!

Rating: 4 / 5⭐️’s

I wish I would've had time to finish the book. It is a good slice of life story showing what it is like to live hard of heard or deaf. It also prooves why it is important to be in a community.

I really enjoyed this book. The representation was really well done and I think does a great job of introducing readers to Deaf culture. It did get a little info-dumpy sometimes and was a bit heavy handed with getting the messages across, but I think for the age group, its okay. The romance was really sweet and was really a highlight of the book. I would really enjoy reading another book from this author

When I saw this on Netgalley I was so excited because a book I would like and it was about deaf characters which I've read before in another book and I really enjoyed it.

This book follows Deaf 17 year old Lilah who lives in a very hearing world. Has hearing parents, hearing friends, attends a mainstream school, etc but struggles to fit in or keep up. Lilac decided to be a junior counselor at the Deaf summer camp, she fell in love with Isaac who was a counselor at the summer camp also, and Isaac helped her learn American Sign Language. At the end of the book, Lilah had learned to identify with being Deaf and to not be afraid. The book is a great insight into living with deafness and deaf culture and one I would definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read an advanced reader's copy.

Received an eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Received a free LibroFM Educators Audiobook.

Lilah’s story navigating not hearing well enough for her school that isn’t accommodating while not feeling deaf enough for the Deaf community is sure to touch a chord with many people. I am not in the deaf community, so I cannot speak to the representation. However I can say that I highly enjoyed Lilah’s story, her romance with Isaac, and am super excited there is another book I can include in my classroom library that can be a window into another life for some students and a mirror to reflect their own life for other students. I would highly recommend this book for middle or high school classrooms.

This was so lovely!! Deaf representation, friends to lovers, summer camp - such a sweet and beautiful book. I'm not a deaf person, but I thought the representation was done fantastically and I think this is a really important book, as it really showcases the importance of learning ASL, not only if you're hard of hearing or deaf but also as a hearing person so that you can communicate with deaf people. There are instances where you see how difficult the world is set up to be for deaf people, for instance in cinemas or drive-throughs, that I thought were vital to be included in this book, as it's very eye-opening.

The romance was really sweet as well, and I loved watching Lilah and Isaac not only develop feelings for each other but also develop communication as Lilah learned ASL. There were also some really lovely friendships in this book too, as Lilah finally gets to make friends with other deaf people and also blind people, where for the first time she doesn't feel that her disability gets in the way of her friendships.

I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it!

Give Me a Sign is an interesting and captivating story. Lilah has hearing loss but is self-conscious about her disability and sometimes doesn't feel deaf enough. With her friends settling on their summer plans, she decides to try to get a summer job at a blind and deaf camp she used to attend. She figures she can practice her ASL. She gets the job, and when she arrives for training, she reconnects with her former fellow camper Issac. Lilan's summer teaches her lessons about the importance of community for blind and deaf people, how the world perceives blind and deaf people, and so much more. It was an incredibly eye-opening read.

As the mother of two hard-of-hearing girls, I loved Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino. The story starts with Lilah wanting to return to the summer camp where she started learning ASL. I appreciated the story of a young woman with profound hearing loss, aided by hearing aids but never feeling part of either community—hearing or deaf. At the camp, she meets Isaac, a deaf counselor who takes her under his wing. There are a lot of bumps and starts for Lilah as she takes responsibility for other deaf and hard-of-hearing children. At every step, she feels as if she's ready to get fired. And when an incident at a store causes Isaac to return home, she feels more out of place and hopeless. Yet, Lilah feels even more like a member of her deaf/HoH community and is even more eager to learn ASL to communicate better with Isaac and her new friends and young charges. In the end, she and Isaac are ever closer.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book! Not only was it an enjoyable summer read, but I also learned so much about ableism, accommodations, and Deaf advocacy.
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What I *most* loved about this book:
- Blind and Deaf representation
- Lilah's found family
- The summer camp setting
- The way Sortino handles the theme of communication/miscommunication: Lilah not only struggles with her ability to communicate using ASL, but she's also simultaneously trying to figure out how to communicate her feelings as a teenager with a crush on a fellow counselor.
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Worth noting: I would absolutely recommend this book to some of my more mature middle school students. If you are considering giving this book to a younger teenager, just know that there is some moderate swearing (s*** and f***), as well as a scene that involves underage alcohol consumption.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the e-ARC!

3.5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me t read an ARC of this.

I really love reading books with disability rep as a disabled person myself, so I was very happy when I got approved for an ARC of this book! As I am not Deaf or blind myself, I really enjoyed reading about characters who are and I learned so many new things! I also really enjoyed the main character's growth throughout the book, almost made me feel like a proud parent in a way :(
My copy of the book was missing entire pages tho, so I missed some crucial moments (like the main couple's first kiss for example...), so I'm a bit sad about that. But if I can find a physical copy of this book somewhere I'll definitely buy it and reread it!

Highly recommend this book, and not just for the gorgeous cover....