Queen B’s Decree: 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.
Book: Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino
Series: standalone
Genre: Young Adult
Hotness: no salsa
Plot Devices/Tropes: Deaf