Give Me a Sign

By: Anna Sortino

Narrated by: Elizabeth Robbins

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

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.

The thing that really stood out to me is that the life guards was gay I didn’t expect that.

Amazing book! I love how it was romantic but still educational. I think with them being deaf in the story and them having kinda a language barrier makes the book more interesting.

Slightly generic

Basic happy ending and fairly intuitive plot. Probably best for the younger crowd. Other characters don’t feel truly autonomous/independent and seem just to be a plot device, so I think it’s a bit overly-centric on the protagonist from a distance.

I would recommend it to younger deaf community/younger readers in general.

Good peek into the deaf world.

Seeing how a young deaf person felt. My sister was deaf and I never really understood even tho I was the only member of our family who signed. Now as an hard of hearing old lady I wish the world signed so I can feel more included.

Amazing!

This gives so many examples of the deaf and hard of hearing culture that helps people learn that it’s okay to be different

Finally!!!

This is the only book that I have that actually accurately expresses what it's like to be a deaf person in a hearing world. I can't wait to get another book by this author. The story is full of emotion. I laughed & also teared up. I recommend this book for anyone that truly wants to understand what it's like to have hearing loss in this world.