REVIEW: Give Me a Sign by Shanta Everington

Liz's mother keeps telling her, "Life's not fair... you deal with it, like an adult." Liz's life certainly doesn't feel fair, but she's not quite an adult. She's 16 and she's struggling to deal with it. She left school to escape the bullies, and now she's being bullied at college. She hates herself for being tall and having big feet. She misses her father, but her mother has a new partner and doesn't talk about him. Liz has one friend at college, but she can't really talk to her, either.

Then she meets Doug, who has recently started college after leaving a deaf boarding school. Doug is gorgeous and strong-willed. Best of all, he's genuinely interested in Liz and he asks her out. Liz throws herself into being his girlfriend, taking lessons in British Sign Lanugage so that she can feel closer to him, and trying to impress his family. But the couple start to meet prejuidice from all sides. Can their relationship survive?

I found it very hard to put this book down once I'd started reading; I immediately cared about Liz and I felt involved in her life and problems. The book touches on many issues, including coping with bereavement, bullying, love and prejudice, but these topics never swamp the story, and Liz's feelings and gradual increase in confidence and maturity are always at the forefront. Liz's adventures in BSL were fantastically described (and really struck a chord with me - I am so proud of the BSL qualification I passed that I can't resist mentioning it here, but I felt just like Liz when I was learning!) I'd also like to mention the lovely icons at the start of each chapter, which worked excellently as enticing signs of what was to follow.

Although I loved the sparing way this book was written, I did find myself wishing it had been longer and more detailed! I would have liked to hear more about Doug, and about Liz and Doug's close yet challenging relationship, and more about best friend Meiying and her own complicated home life. I even wanted to read more about the terrible bullying twins, who seemed to have interesting powerplay going on between each other. But I thoroughly enjoyed what is there, which is a consistently well-written and engaging story of first love and finding your place in the world.

Highly recommended.

Shanta Everington has a website, and you can also read Liz's fictional blog.