Anna Sortino
Anna Sortino is a young adult author who writes stories about disabled characters living their lives and falling in love. She's Deaf and passionate about diverse representation in media. Born and raised in the Chicagoland area, Anna has since lived coast to coast, spending her free time exploring nature with her dog or reading on the couch with her cat. Give Me a Sign is her debut novel.
A girl finds a community—and love—over the course of one summer in this joyful, wholesome YA romance that celebrates Deaf pride. Think CODA meets Jenny Han!
Lilah is tired of being 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.
Ready for a change, Lilah becomes a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind, where she plans to brush up on her ASL. There, she also finds a community. There are British lifeguards, who are very cute and very hard to understand; a YouTuber, who’s just a bit desperate for clout; the campers Lilah’s responsible for (and maybe a bit overwhelmed by)—and 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 Lilah’s reading them wrong? One thing’s for sure: Lilah wanted change, and things here . . . they’re definitely different than she’s used to.
A hopeful novel about love, disability, and the inevitability of change by the author of Give Me a Sign.
Ellie’s Deaf boarding school just shut down, forcing her to leave the place she considered home and return to her hearing family. But being mainstreamed into public school isn’t exactly easy. So her guidance counselor pairs her with Jackson, a student who’s supposed to help her adjust. Can the boy who tries to say the right things, and gets it all wrong, be the lifeline Ellie needs?
Jackson has been avoiding his teammates ever since some numbness in his legs cost them an important soccer match. With his senior year off to a lonely start, he’s intrigued when he’s asked to help the new girl, initially thinking it will be a commendable move on his part. Little does he know Ellie will soon be the person he wants most by his side when the strange symptoms he’s experiencing amount to a life-changing diagnosis.
Exploring what it means to build community, Anna Sortino pens a story about the fear of the unknown and the beauty of the unexpected, all wrapped up in a poignant romance that will break your heart and put it back together again.