Review: "Show Me A Sign" by Ann Clare LeZotte


Happy Easter, guys! Christ is risen! (*pretends you responded with "He is risen indeed, Alleluia!"*) (Yes, Catholics are weird and awesome and have special greetings for other liturgical seasons than Christmas.) I hope y'all had a lovely Triduum and a beautiful Easter! (And if you got to go back to church in person and want to rave in the comments about how amazing it was, you are absolutely more than welcome. I will be right there with you.)

Even though I'm finished with my ASL class, I'm still fascinated with Deaf culture, so I thought this MG novel about a Deaf MC in the 1800s would be an interesting read! 

Mary Lambert has always felt safe and protected on her beloved island of Martha's Vineyard. Her great-great-grandfather was an early English settler and the first deaf islander. Now, over a hundred years later, many people there -- including Mary -- are deaf, and nearly everyone can communicate in sign language. Mary has never felt isolated. She is proud of her lineage.

But recent events have delivered winds of change. Mary's brother died, leaving her family shattered. Tensions over land disputes are mounting between English settlers and the Wampanoag people. And a cunning young scientist has arrived, hoping to discover the origin of the island's prevalent deafness. His maniacal drive to find answers soon renders Mary a "live specimen" in a cruel experiment. Her struggle to save herself is at the core of this penetrating and poignant novel that probes our perceptions of ability and disability.

Worldbuilding/Writing Style
The author of the book is Deaf herself, and I thought that added a lot to her portrayal of a Deaf heroine, especially in parts like the one where the heroine is trying to be extra quiet but doesn't know if she's making any noise, or things like that, things that I've not found in any other portrayal of a Deaf MC. I loved how vivid the visual descriptions were, as well, another important characteristic of a Deaf POV. And some of the dialogue keeps the syntax of ASL or other Signed languages, which I though was a nice touch. In addition, that the historical context was well done, and I enjoyed having a peek into the Martha's Vineyard Deaf community.

Plot
The plot started off a bit slowly, but I did enjoy the everyday life feel of it. However, I had heard that something exciting happened at the midpoint, and if I hadn't been looking forward to that, and assured of a midpoint's existence, I might have been tempted to put it aside.

The plot did pick up quite a bit in the second half, so that was good! It is an MG book, so the plot wasn't anything especially complex, although it was engaging.

There were a few times where things were foreshadowed that didn't end up being significant, and a few parts where characters suddenly behaved in a way that didn't seem to be indicated by how they had acted earlier, but that could just be my perception.

The inclusion of themes around race and racism was interesting, but I thought it veered dangerously close to preaching to the reader, so there's that. I know that authors often feel like they need to make things more obvious for their MG readers as far as right and wrong, but MG readers are smart! One doesn't need to spell things out for them 100%.

Characters
I found Mary an interesting MC--although she didn't have a whole lot of development, I felt like? She was just kind of the eyes through which the reader saw the world. Obviously she did have some of her own traits, but I thought they were fewer and farther between than I would have liked, overall. Somehow, though, despite this, she felt very real. I'm not sure how the author did that, but it was impressive!

I personally thought that the most interesting and engaging character was her friend Ezra who was kooky and quirky and a great storyteller. 

I also really liked several other SCs--Thomas, Sally, Nora, etc. But other SCs, like Mary's parents, were quite flat. 

I did think the villain was very flat, which took away from my enjoyment--I wanted him to have motives! And backstory! And reasons for his actions!

Romance
None.

Content
Harmful attitudes towards the Deaf community, racism, 
death, *highlight for spoilers* kidnapping, forced labor, use of a human as a medical subject without consent *end spoiler*.

Overall Rating
I think I'll give this one 3 stars? I enjoyed it, but there were definitely flaws that I thought could have been fixed fairly easily.

Reminds me of...
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznik, another historical fiction story about a Deaf MC. Although I thought Wonderstruck was better. :)

Do you have any more Deaf Culture reading recommendations for me? Have you read any MG recently? How were your Triduum and Easter?

Comments

  1. Ooh, this one sounds interesting. But yeah, it bugs me when authors seem to be writing down to MG readers, making things extra clear. "MG readers are smart!" <<- yes, indeed!
    I quite like Wonderstruck. Brian Selznik's artwork is so beeaautifuuul. (Also, after reading that book I was inspired to go learn the alphabet in sign language :) )

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    1. It was really interesting! I also think that MG readers actually learn better if they're not written down to--especially in terms of vocabulary!
      It's such a beautifully aesthetic book! (Ooh, that's neat! The fingerspelling alphabet is so cool!)

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  2. Sounds interesting! I might check out Wonderstruck instead though.

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    1. Oh yes, if you haven't read Wonderstruck, definitely read that one!

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  3. He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

    (Lutherans use that greeting throughout the Easter season too :-D)

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    1. Oh, that's really cool! I didn't realize! :)

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  4. This sounds very neat as told from an author who is deaf herself! I tend to get tired of plots that have what you put in the spoilers, but I must admit that I am still interested by this.

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    1. I really liked that aspect, and I think you can tell by her writing style, which is neat! I didn't really like those aspects myself, but I would still cautiously recommend it, if it sounds interesting.

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