Give Me A Sign, by Anna Sortino

Summer camps, like boarding schools, are popular terrain for romantic YA adventures.  But Sortino's novel uses the setting in a new way to write a sprawling introduction to deaf culture.

When she was little, Lilah attended Camp Grey Wolf, a summer camp for deaf (and some blind) kids.  But now she's being given the opportunity to return as a junior counselor.  The place has gotten run down over the years and Lilah is shocked to learn how shaky the camp's finances are.  But it's still the fun place she remembered.

Living with hearing parents and with some hearing, Lilah has tried to get by with hearing aids and lip reading back home.  It's proven frustrating and alienated her from her parents and her friends.  But at camp, everyone understands and she finds herself being included.  What she's not expecting is the wide diversity of opinion about the use of American Sign Language, hearing aids, cochlear implants, and mainstreaming.  Everyone has different opinions and the kids find themselves navigating the options and their choices throughout the summer.

At times, the book digresses too deeply into the specifics of the debates and loses track of its storytelling purpose, but in general Sortino has crafted an entertaining book about kids who have disabilities and what makes them the same and different from other kids.  The romance gets overrun by other events and largely forgotten and the camp hijinks are pretty low key, but strong emotional growth for Lilah and some nice lessons learned all round make this a rewarding read.  And yes, the camp is saved in the end!