Books I've read: On the Bright Side

 

When I write at the library, I tend to sit in the YA section in the hopes all those published words will have an effect on my own writing (yeah, it's cheap magic) and last week I happened to be sitting by the new release rack and saw this book with a Deaf protagonist.  Given my book has a mute protagonist, it felt like I needed to read this.

It was a cute book and I enjoyed it.  It was refreshing to read something with a real understanding of disability and how some people with disabilities don't really see them that way.

Ellie is Deaf and has been at a special boarding school for the Deaf for several years.  When the school closes down, she's forced to go home to her hearing family and to try and figure out how to fit in there and at a mainstream school. Her first day is kind of a disaster and to try and help her find her way, she's assigned a guide.

Jackson is one of the school's soccer stars, but has been ostracized since he fumbled a pass when his legs went numb and lost the team an important game.  He is eager to help Ellie, but somehow manages to say all the wrong things all the time.  And then just as things are beginning to improve between them, he's blindsided by a life-changing medical diagnosis.

I really liked the relationship between this pair, especially when it was so fraught with miscommunication.  I also liked Ellie's attitude toward her disability and how she never sees it as an impairment.  It really highlighted how important having a community of like-minded people around you is - Ellie only really thrives once she finds a group of other Deaf people to hang out with.  It also underlines the fact sign language is in fact a language in the same way French or Russian is.

Jackson also discovers the importance of community when he joins a support group for people who share his diagnosis and can speak to their own experiences and ways to overcome challenges brought on by having this condition.

But despite each having their own group, Ellie and Jackson's relationship is the centre of this book and the way they come together and fall in love is super cute.  It would be easy to say their relationship is inevitable because they are two people with differences and would naturally gravitate toward each other, but this is not the case here.

I especially enjoyed reading about the struggles Ellie has with her parents who seem unable to understand that Ellie has a world of her own and doesn't necessarily want to conform to the hearing world the way they want her to.

So I'd recommend this one.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

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. Back in a mainstream school, Ellie quickly becomes the subject of hateful rumors. That’s when 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.