Summary: Give Me a Sign
In Give Me a Sign, Lilah is a teen with hearing loss but who isn’t profoundly deaf. So she has always felt caught in the middle — not deaf enough to be part of the Deaf community and not fully hearing to fit in completely there either. But when she becomes a counselor at a summer camp for deaf and blind kids, her experiences (and the boy she falls in love with) change the way the views her disability.
The Good
I loved this book! Lilah is a genuine, believable teenager whose struggling to find her place in the hearing world, in which her parents have convinced her she completely belongs. At the same time, her hearing friends don’t seem to understand how lip reading works, why she can’t order at Drive-thrus, or why she needs them to explain some scenes during movies.
However, when she signs up as a camp counselor, she’s suddenly thrown into the world of the Deaf and sign language (which she barely knows). As the summer progresses, she interacts with a wide range of characters, including a hearing social media influencer who’s studying to be sign language interpreter and makes many ally faux-pas throughout the story.
I’ve never read anything that explores the nuances of the Deaf community. We see how some people in the community feel about sensitive decisions such as whether to learn ASL or not to ASL, to get a cochlear implant or not, and when, if at all, to do so.
The author also shines a gentle light on the missteps of allyship and public perception of deafness without vilifying any of the characters for their sometimes well-intentioned mistakes. It’s sad to see how often Deaf people have to defend themselves against predators, people who think they’re pretending to be deaf, and others who simply won’t make allowances for them.
But the story is not all serious. There’s also a swoony slow-burn romance and strong camp vibes throughout this book. The audiobook is lovely(!!) and includes sound effects to depict conversations in ASL and muffled portions to depict the parts where Lilah can’t lip-read. The book italicizes signed portions of the conversations and leaves the spoken parts and narration in normal type.
Overall: Give Me a Sign
Give Me a Sign is a beautiful exploration of Deaf culture with a nostalgic summer camp setting and sweet first love. This book is a great addition to the slim pickings of YA books about disability. I’d recommend this for readers ages 13+ who want to learn more about deafness and Deaf culture + are looking for a summer camp romance.
My Rating
Content Notes
Here are some specifics to know about the content.
Content Warnings
- Prejudice and violence: One teen is attacked by a security guard who doesn’t believe he’s deaf
- Profanity: Infrequent use of mild profanity
- Kissing: There are 2-3 kissing scenes between Lilah and Isaac
Diversity
- Ethnic: Isaac is Latino, there’s a Black side character named Simone, and most other characters are cued white
- Sexual orientation: Two male lifeguards date each other
Recommended for ages: 13+
Good for teens who like:
- The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
- Summer camp stories
- Slow-burn YA romances
Kids say:
“Give Me A Sign is a really good book. I love it so much, it really showed me a piece of the Deaf culture. I enjoyed the fact that it took place in a summer camp, where there are a lot of opportunities to understand different aspects of being Deaf, hard of hearing or blind. If you like reading about little summer romances, real life struggles and cute characters, you would definitely enjoy this book.”
— kashvi, age 12
Publisher Details
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More YA Book Reviews
- Breathe and Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester
- One True Loves by Elise Bryant
- The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
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