after reading give me a sign last year, i was really looking forward to sortino’s next release. if i knew one thing, it would pull at my heartstrings and it would have amazing disability rep. and i was not disappointment in those aspects when i read on the bright side.

here, we follow ellie, a teen girl who’s the only deaf in her family, struggling to adjust to a new school her senior year. and jackson, a soccer playing teen, who’s life begins to change before his eyes as he undergoes a diagnosis of a lifelong disability. together, they both grow and learn, and learn to love one another despite their hardships and any communications they may have since jackson doesn’t know sign and ellie’s hearing aids + cochlear implants can only go so far.

i truly loved seeing their story lines, ellie, learning to navigate living at home again for the first time in five years. adjusting to a hearing school. and trying to immerse herself in as much of a deaf culture as she’s able to. now, as i have and will continue to say, i am not deaf. nor do i know anyone direclty who is. so i won’t comment specifically on the accuracy of the rep. but what i can say, is that i truly feel for ellie. she spends a lot of the book trying to get her family to even somewhat communicate in a way that she can process, without much luck. often leading to arguments and coldness. i loved seeing ellie grow in her confidence, in having her community. to the point where she was able to start to have that open communication with her family. and i’d like to think that someday in their future, her parents are learning ASL and doing all the right things.

i don’t know if i loved ellie’s or jackson’s story more. i think possibly jackson, just because his diagnosis odyssey just hit so close to home. i can deeply understand jackson’s sheer relief when there’s just an answer for his problems. that he can know why the reason’s his body may have failed out on him. while it was tough at times to read him get his MS diagnosis, i know that his story is invaluable to share. i don’t have MS either, although i do deal with a lot of symptoms he does. so i can truly understand the difficulty when your body shuts down on you to the point of being bedridden. to me, his story felt so authentic to the chronic illness/pain that i, and many others, deal with. and i appreciate that despite his parent’s apprehensive feelings towards medical care that they did not stop him from getting the treatments he needs. it’s a good was to show how jackson deserved his own agency for his health, regardless of how old he is at diagnosis.

and of course, as much as i adore ellie and jackson separately, i adore them even more together. following their relationship grow. from the very messy bits, to the sweet and beautiful ones. i think they show each other that when you care for the person, you will stick with them through the difficult times. whether that means, from literally being bedridden with pain and fatigue. i truly loved seeing them have the chance to work through their difficult emotions separately when needed, and together when requested. truly, what we all need!

clearly, i really enjoyed this one. and i highly recommend this one, especially to understand the difficulties of undergoing a diagnosis for a chronic illness. jackson was “lucky” to be diagnosed so early in his odyssey. but it does truly show how long it can take, like when he was turned away at his first urgent care appointment. i think it’s so insightful, while also having an escapism feeling through their budding romance.

it had it’s moments that were questionable (ellie and her ex storyline mostly. and i also wish liam’s character was addressed). but overall i think this is a lovely little book.

I greatly enjoyed Anna Sortino's debut novel, Give Me a Sign, so I was quite excited when I saw she was publishing another book. And I'm thrilled to say that On the Bright Side exceeded my (already high) expectations.

What I loved:
- Both POV characters: Ellie and Jackson are well-rounded protagonists who demonstrate tremendous growth, both as individuals as well as in their relationship, over the course of the book.
- The disability representation: Sortino writes from her own experiences as a Deaf author with MS, and the way she writes about advocacy, ableism, and care with authenticity and honesty.
- The relationship arc: Ellie and Jackson's relationship faces tests that one might expect a HS couple to endure (miscommunication, an ex-partner, judgmental parents), but they also face challenges that one might not expect someone so young to have experienced (a life-altering diagnosis). This made for such a compelling and emotional story, and one that I was fully invested in.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

Ellie's Deaf boarding school is shut down, so she has to move home to attend public school. Her family wants her to be "normal" and won't accept that she needs accommodations to participate in their family discussions. The school pairs her up with a buddy to help her get around the school, and while she and Jackson become friends, he is dealing with a crisis of his own. I really loved the relationship between Ellie and Jackson. I was so frustrated for her when she was dealing with her family and was happy she found a community of friends to help her navigate her relationship with her parents. This was a great YA read!

“On the Bright Side” by Anna Sortino is a coming-of-age novel about Ellie, who is hard of hearing, and the obstacles that can present in her life as a teenager going through high school.

Ellie’s been away at a special school that helps those who are deaf. When it closes, she returns home and has to navigate living with her parents once again, in her senior year, who are less than accommodating to her lifestyle and the assistance she needs. Now, at a normal high school, she’s given an ASL tutor who follows her to her classes to translate the lectures and is encouraged to join the ASL club.

Then, she meets Jackson, who is assigned to help her get acquainted with the school and brings her along into the campus life before Jackson gets his own diagnosis and has to adjust and decide what’s next in his life.

The two are able to work together to help one another, defy the expectations their parents have put on them and find a found family in their disability community. It’s going above and beyond to show those around you that you care and if you want to, you will.

I enjoyed this story. It was well-written, moved along nicely and I loved the representation and disability advocacy that was shown throughout. About midway through, I wasn’t sure how it was going to tie up, and I didn’t always agree with Ellie’s decisions but she is, after all, a teenager, dealing with the challenges of life. But, it found another direction and kept moving forward. I feel like I learned a lot and it’s especially relatable to those in their teen years, and would recommend to those in their teens/young adult phase.

I give it ⭐⭐⭐⭐! Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Penguin Young Readers Group (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers).

#NetGalley #OnTheBrightSide

Anna Sortino is quickly becoming my new favorite author.
I really enjoyed Give Me a Sign and was very much looking forward to On the Bright Side, so I'm extremely grateful to have gotten an early copy!!

The book handles topics of disability, acceptance, community, and self-advocacy so well We first get a glimpse of Ellie's self-advocacy in her first class at Amber High. Her interpreter is not doing her job correctly. She is (un?)intentionally leaving out specific words that Ellie signs, and misleading the class. It may not seem like a big deal, but it very much is––it's stripping away accessibility, and essentially taking away Ellie's voice. She then stands up for herself and demands that the interpreter correct her actions. I love this scene so much because it perfectly displays Ellie's character, as someone who is proud of their deafness and won't let anyone take that away from her. She also found a strong community within the ASL club at school, which gave her even more opportunities to embrace her deafness and communicate in sign.

Jackson's road to accepting his disability is a lot different and certainly more challenging. As his worrying symptoms of numbness, dizziness, and vision problems continue to worsen, he's faced with an MS diagnosis. Understandably, it is extremely difficult to go from being able-bodied to learning he has an incurable disease that, without prompt treatment, could get even worse. Similar to how Ellie found comfort and community in the ASL club, Jackson attended an MS support group, and it helped shift his mindset and begin to accept his disability.

This is a gorgeous story of two people navigating their disabilities and futures together. Ellie and Jackson make for a super cute couple, and it was fun––I experienced lots of giggling and kicking feet moments––watching their relationship develop! (Good riddance, Cody.) But more than that, they become someone the other person can lean on and look to for advice in overcoming their individual challenges.

On a personal note, I resonated so much with Jackson. For the last two years, I've been experiencing similar symptoms, and while my diagnosis isn't MS, it's still an incurable disease with permanent nerve damage. So I felt especially connected to him as a character and his overall arc. From the initial "Oh, this is nothing to worry about" after the first episode of numbness/tingling, to the "I now have this life-long diagnosis and I don't know what this means for me or my future goals."

Additionally, I love the written English translations of ASL and how the audiobook incorporates them auditorily for listeners. I highly recommend the audiobook!!

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for Young Readers for this eARC in exchange for my review! (:

DNFing this for a variety of reasons:

- the MC is so incredibly cranky and selfish 24/7. I get that she has some HARD things going on relating to her Deafness and going to a new school, but I was not happy reading her POV. I needed her to do something nice and look outside herself for me to cheer her on.

- all the adults in this book are either idiots or ableists, INCLUDING HER PARENTS. Made me so stressed every time an adult came into the scene because I knew an argument or injustice was coming. Drove me crazy. I know this happens in real life, but it just made me either roll my eyes or want to tear the book apart. Also the love interest’s parents are also clueless and “supplement granola parents”…… like how many horrible adults can we get in one book? Not a pleasant reading experience.

- overall, this book has me questioning if I like YA at all. It has to be done well, and I can’t handle teens complaining every single page while being so self centered. Give me Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, where Demon goes through every horrible thing imaginable as a kid and teen, yet I still want to root for him because I know he’s kind and noble. Idk. I think this book will strike a chord with Deaf people, and they’ll hopefully be able to relate to the MC more.

There were parts of this book that absolutely gripped my heart, there is something about friendship in the process of loss and reclamation that I love so much!

A cute story featuring deaf and MS representation!

While I liked Sortino's debut more than this one, I still thought On the Bright Side was a cute story. Their romance was endearing and their growth was definitely there. But the characters still seemed to fall a little flat. There were also a few moments in the plot that I wanted a little more from, like some resolutions needed more too them to feel satisfying.

This was such an emotional story! I wasn't expected to be hit in the feels like that.

This is a very high school YA romance with Deaf and other disability representation. It started off slow but it still captured my interest. Ellie has to leave her Deaf school for her senior year and attend regular public high school. The whole cast of typical high schoolers is there, in all their ignorant glory.

Jackson is a people-pleaser. When his guidance counselor asks him to show a new student around, he readily agrees. Even though Ellie has a major chip on her shoulder in the beginning, they strike up a friendship. Their relationship progresses quickly (almost too quickly, at times) but is riddled with hurdles.

I love seeing Ellie and Jackson's journeys. Sure, Ellie is annoying at first but I get it. The adults we meet in this story are almost universally terrible. Ellie's parents, in particular, made me want to scream. But I like how those relationships were handled.

I'd definitely recommend this book!

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

After this book, I am officially a huge fan of Anna Sortino’s books (although I really was after her debut, GIVE ME A SIGN). An incredible and moving story of two disabled teens (one Deaf, the other discovering an autoimmune condition), that’s also just funny and fun to watch them fall for each other. It’s heartfelt and easy to read even in the harder moments that the characters go through. I really enjoyed reading the entire book and while I was sad it was over, I thought the story flowed really well and wrapped up really well. I highly recommend reading it!

Something that I always love about Anna Sortino’s books, but that’s especially prominent here, is how the teenage characters are both realistic while also being allowed to explore their own autonomy. This book is a little bit about finding community, but also about finding yourself outside of the factors you’ve previously used to define yourself. Ellie and Jackson are both faced with pretty core aspects of their lives changing, something that ends up bringing them together into a friendship, crushes, and a potential relationship. I feel like this book does a really good job of fitting into the YA age category while also having core messages and writing that could be appealing to any age. It’s a great mix of a fun book with some heavy issues that aren’t represented in YA as much as they are in everyday life.

Basically, if it’s not clear by now, I highly recommend this book and I will always be happy to read another book by this author and enjoy the characters and their worlds for a little while.

This is a Ana Sortino's sophomore debut and as someone who enjoyed Give me a Sign last year, I have high expectations for this one.

What I liked
First of all, the disability representation is always topnotch! I know everyone's familiar how rarely we can read books with specific disability being explored and on this one, we follow deaf main characters and their life as they try to start in a new school.

The writing style of Anna Sortino always works well with me as I manage to read this book in less than 48 hours. I love reading realistic representation and I believe the author achieved that by making sure that the research process is done well. There are also parts where sign language is being described and as someone who is planning to learn it soon, I enjoyed reading about that.

What can be improved for me is the establishment of the side characters. With this one, it felt like they were placed in this book to serve one purpose - to be supporting characters. I believe that there is an option to flesh out these elements given the ample time but if there will be plans to give them their own book soon, who am I to say no to that?

Love, 4stars!

Jackson's story touched me especially. I had immediate sympathy for him and everything he was going through. I knew it was all done out of love, even though his parents are a little over the top. I loved how Ellie and Jackson found new families while dealing with their difficulties. I really enjoyed learning more about the culture of the deaf through this wonderful story.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for this e-ARC.

On the Bright Side by Anna Sortino is the story of Ellie and Jackson during a tough time.  Ellie’s deaf boarding school had to shut down, meaning that Ellie had to transition to a mainstream school for her senior year.  On the other hand, Jackson has been a star athlete in the same mainstream school that Ellie is transitioning to, when his legs start going numb for no apparent reason and right in the middle of a pivotal game. His senior year becomes one where he has to learn to live with a devastating diagnosis.  As they navigate the challenges of their senior year, Ellie and Jackson meet, and the chemistry is palpable. But with societal prejudices, personal insecurities, and the fear of losing each other, is it just the right place but the wrong time to meet, or can something more bloom?

I found Jackson’s story particularly moving. I felt instant compassion for him and all that he was going through. His parents are a little much, but I could tell it was all out of love.

Ellie is a little spitfire, with a fierce determination to succeed despite her hearing impairment. I respected her position in school and life, unwavering independence, and refusal to be pitied. However, she wasn’t as approachable and definitely wasn’t as sympathetic. To be fair, I doubt she would want mine or anyone else’s sympathy.

On the Bright Side is a profoundly authentic narrative that mirrors the real-life experiences of its readers. The story of Ellie and Jackson, their challenges, and their journey towards love and acceptance, is a testament to the human spirit. It is a story that will surely resonate with readers, leaving a lasting impression on their hearts and minds.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, more than i was expecting to! Sortino does a fantastic job with disability rep and i look forward to reading many more of her books.

Not quite what I was expecting, but it was still quite good. I read this in 2 sittings!

I thought this story was mostly going to be about Ellie and her trying to adjust coming from a deaf boarding school into a huge, regular, high school setting. But Jackson quickly the primary, in my opinion.

See, Ellie meets Jackson upon joining the hearing population of his school when a guidance counselor asks him to help Ellie out with learning where things are and adjusting to the school in general. Jackson's a very kind young man and does so, though it doesn't hurt that he finds her interesting AND he is avoiding his teammates and the heckling they are giving him for tripping on nothing their last match. Jackson, we learn is on a break from his sports team do to a perceived injury. Ellie continues to hang out with him, even when his strange injury symptoms remain despite all the rest he has gotten. Jackson tries to be there for her, even though he's not feeling well as she decides to make major changes in her life and makes a few blunders that effects their relationship for awhile. In fact, his symptoms start getting worse.

So what did I think?

I LOVED it. Definitely getting it for my work library. There is some excellent representation of potential effects of MS on a person and to some degree, deaf society/culture. The fact that there can be some wonderful support systems out there are both represented well.

Ellie is this kind but strong, independent young woman who knows that she shouldn't have to change/adapt herself in order to make her condition easier on other people, who are her parents and sibling mostly. The clashes she has with her parents are very unfortunate, but I know that this is probably the reality for a lot of people with hearing difficulties. The way her parents treated her, though they do love her, got an emotional response from me for sure. It's not that often I have fictional parents of a character I want to smack for being so...rigid, unthinking and insensitive.

Jackson strikes me as a bit of a people pleaser, which isn't terrible, just different. He wants to please his parents and pushes himself too hard when feeling ill instead of really telling them, he's avoiding his teammates because he agrees that he let them down even though it was completely unintentional and beyond his control, he agrees to help the guidance councilor with a new deaf student, Ellie, and even though he likes her, he is extremely accommodating for Ellie. So much so he takes it upon himself to learn ASL so they can communicate better, aka not through text.

His struggles with the unknown symptoms of MS, the diagnosis and the 'fallout' from it are wonderfully written. Anna Sortino mentions in the author’s note that she has MS and its a diagnosis she’s still getting used to. That personal knowledge about what it is like to live, and be diagnosed with MS is clear throughout Jackson’s story. Absolutely well written.

Conclusion?

Anna Sortino did a great job writing On the Bright Side. I plan to get a copy in at my work and I personally plan to find some more of her books to read. It has great presentation and really shines a light on the fact that MS can hit anyone and gives the reader an idea what it might be like for someone with MS.

On the Bright Side-a standalone

By Anna Sortino-a new to me author

Format: E-book 319 pgs.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for this E-ARC 💜! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.


Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐½

Summary: Ellie's boarding school Grandview for the deaf is closing due to budget cuts and she has to go to Amber High, a public high school. She moves back in with her hearing parents and older sister Madison to a school with no ASL classes. Jackson thinks volunteering to help a new student will look good for college, but when he meets Ellie things get a little complicated. He starts learning ASL to communicate with her, and she is there for him when he faces a life changing diagnosis. With all the adversity, can they look on the bright side?

Eleanor "Ellie" Egan (18)+ Jackson Messina(18)

✔ YA romance
✔ opposites attract
✔ H and h have disabilities/illnesses
✔ found family
✔ mental health
✔ friendship
✔ coming of age
✔ clean romance
✔ Dual POV [1st Person]
✔ HEA

🤔My Thoughts:

- It's refreshing getting a disabled hero and heroine. Everyone isn't athletic, good at sports, or in perfect shape as hard as we try.

- Ellie's parents were clueless on how to be supportive and just let her live. They wanted to make themselves comfortable with her being deaf without thinking about her.

- I loved the found families Ellie and Jackson find in dealing with their disabilities. Ellie has the "deaf house" and Jackson has his support group. They also have each other with Jackson learning ASL and Ellie driving him around.

- Ellie's ex Cody was pretty one dimensional and I didn't think he was necessary. If more happened with Ellie, her roommate Kayla, and Cody at the boarding school I would have been more invested.

⚠️Trigger Warnings: depression, parental neglect, ableism

This was a beautiful story and I loved getting to know more about deaf culture. I loved the writing and the characters. This was a great read for the summer, I flew through it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was my first time reading about a deaf main character and it was a very refreshing change. I appreciated the representation in this book, especially the life changing diagnosis. As someone who has an autoimmune disorder, it’s hard to find others who truly understand and it was nice to see that here. I’ll definitely be adding Sortino’s other book to my reading list!

Thoughts and Themes: I was excited when I heard about this book and was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it from the moment that I read it. There was a lot that I really enjoyed about this book.

I appreciate this this book takes you through two difference disabilities and the process that each person goes through with their own disability. I like that Ellie and Jackson both navigate their disability in different ways and that Ellie is patient with Jackson as he is newly diagnosed.

Characters: In this book you are introduced to our two main characters, Ellie and Jackson, along with some of their friends and their parents. I really enjoyed getting to know both of the characters and see them interacting with the others.

I appreciated the relationship between Ellie and Jackson, and how they both benefit from the relationship. I liked how their relationship develops and how it goes throughout the book. I was a bit worried when things were not resolved, and it was getting near the ending that it would wrap quickly, and I wouldn't be satisfied. I was pleased that this isn't what happened, and it gave us the ending that I wanted.

Writing Style: This book is told in first person with dual point of views going back and forth between Ellie and Jackson. I liked being able to read things from both of their perspectives because we got to understand their feelings apart from each other. I appreciated getting to see Jackson process his diagnosis on his own and then get more perspective when he got to talk with Ellie.

I love Anna Sortinos writing. I love the ASL conversations written in ASL grammar and the descriptions of hand shapes and signs. I didn’t realize this book was so personal until the final authors note.