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graceelenora's review
It was very sad in the middle. She loses her parents, and if she doesn't follow the rules, she'll never see her parents again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Colonisation
paperquilt's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Ableism, Child abuse, Grief, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Colonisation and Child death
careinthelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
3.0
I expected to like this one more, but it wasn't a new favourite. That being said, it was interesting, informative, more exciting than I expected for historical fiction, and kept me guessing. The main character was really compelling and likeable but the secondary characters were underdeveloped. Maybe if it had been longer, if I had spent more time with these characters, I would feel differently. I know there's a sequel that might do just that, but I think this one didn't engage me enough to want to continue in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Racism, Trafficking, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Ableism, Child abuse, and Confinement
Moderate: Grief, Colonisation, Death, Medical content, and Slavery
emily_mh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I was completed immersed in and hooked by this story. LeZotte created a full and dynamic picture of a community on Martha's Vineyard in the early 19th century, with details such as how these people lived and worked, but more importantly displaying the social dynamics and culture of having a large Deaf population. It was so cool seeing Deaf people thrive in a community fully accessibly to them, and where our main character Mary was raised without any of the ableism that she would have faced on the mainland. On top of this the book explores the dynamic of white colonisers living alongside formerly enslaved Black people and the Wampanoag Nation. Too often white authors gloss over racism in historical fiction so it is so important that LeZotte addressed it in Show Me A Sign. Overall, the tone of the book felt like a more melancholy "Anne With An E" (I choose this adaptation specifically rather than the source material as AWAE also confronts social issues).
A lot of this book is confronting. It explicitly shows the violence of ableism, in particular the history of experimentation on disabled people. But it is so important to know about this and bring light to it as a lot of people, especially middle-graders, are likely unaware of how deep ableism runs.
Mary was a great MC. She's at a point in her life when she is learning so much about the world around her and questioning what she has been taught to believe. This made for a rich inner world and some fantastic character development. However, I also liked that Mary didn't have it all figured out by the end of the book, as most of the questions she was asking did not (and still do not) have simple answers. I was so emotionally tied up in her heartbreaking and hopeful story.
In sum, I loved this read and cannot wait to pick up the sequel!
A lot of this book is confronting. It explicitly shows the violence of ableism, in particular the history of experimentation on disabled people. But it is so important to know about this and bring light to it as a lot of people, especially middle-graders, are likely unaware of how deep ableism runs.
Mary was a great MC. She's at a point in her life when she is learning so much about the world around her and questioning what she has been taught to believe. This made for a rich inner world and some fantastic character development. However, I also liked that Mary didn't have it all figured out by the end of the book, as most of the questions she was asking did not (and still do not) have simple answers. I was so emotionally tied up in her heartbreaking and hopeful story.
In sum, I loved this read and cannot wait to pick up the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Ableism
Moderate: Racism, Physical abuse, Child death, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Death, and Car accident
Minor: Sexism, War, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Blood, Medical content, Addiction, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Excrement
Moderate: loss of a loved one Minor: illness, ethnic racism, biracial racism, huntingserendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Show Me a Sign is a middle grade book set in Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard in the early nineteenth century. It was a community with a high percentage of deaf people, which consequently had a thriving deaf community, and where nearly all citizens, deaf and hearing, signed. The plot was gripping - Mary, a young deaf girl, is kidnapped by an unscrupulous scientist. It also includes a storyline exploring colonialism and the loss of land by the Wampanoag. For me the highlight was the contrast between the attitudes to the deaf on Martha’s Vineyard and the quality of life enjoyed by them, compared to Boston, where the deaf were shunned, offered no education, viewed as intellectually disabled, and forced to beg to survive. Thought provoking with parallels between racism, colonialism and ableism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Ableism, Colonisation, Confinement, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Racism
ocean's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Kidnapping
Moderate: Racism and Colonisation
kstericker's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Racism
Minor: Colonisation, Death, and Violence
flordemaga's review
challenging
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A beautiful, reflective book that sheds light onto deafness as culture and identity, by setting it in history. The characters all feel very real and the emotions very raw.
If I could change one thing about the book, it would be that sometimes it ends up doing a lot of telling when I know that its showing is SO powerful.
If I could change one thing about the book, it would be that sometimes it ends up doing a lot of telling when I know that its showing is SO powerful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death and Colonisation
Minor: Slavery and Racism
courtneyfalling's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
2.0
I was so excited for this book, but it really disappointed me. On its own, the Deaf representation is great: Mary is a strong-willed, insightful main character learning how to be a good person who lives up to her own morals, including what she's gained from the prevalence and acceptance of deafness in her community.
However, this book did not handle its themes of race well at all. One of the characters, Thomas, is a Black freedman who faces continued discrimination from the surrounding community.By the end of the story, he is leaving for weeks at sea as a whaler, a deadly job he accepted only because he couldn't see other income options for him and his family. Meanwhile, his wife, Helen, is an Indigenous woman born into the local Wampanoag nation. The book details a white man in town, Mary's best friend's father, accusing Helen of stealing sheets (something Mary and her best friend actually did), then spouting basic anti-Indigenous rhetoric to defend the land his ancestors unethically took from the Wampanoag and he still lives on.
I was hoping the book would successfully challenge both anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in the end, but instead, it wrapped everything into a neat lesson delivered to Mary by her father: "If you're just nice to people, unlike your ancestors, everything can be forgiven!" What about the stolen land you're still living on? What about reparations? Heck, on a basic level, what about pointing out your neighbors' continued discrimination and holding everyone in your community to a higher standard of care and equity? This felt like a terrible historical and political lesson for kids to internalize.
Some of the basic factual details also seemed inaccurate, especially around the book's timeline: what customs would have been typical at a given time, when settlers would have arrived or when events would have occurred, what relations between nearby Indigenous nations and white settlers would have been like in the different time periods mentioned, and so on. There was a fuzzy feeling of offness throughout retellings of local settlers' histories. Which is especially dangerous when potentially incorrect information is fueling how the book represents racism.
However, this book did not handle its themes of race well at all. One of the characters, Thomas, is a Black freedman who faces continued discrimination from the surrounding community.
I was hoping the book would successfully challenge both anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in the end, but instead, it wrapped everything into a neat lesson delivered to Mary by her father: "If you're just nice to people, unlike your ancestors, everything can be forgiven!" What about the stolen land you're still living on? What about reparations? Heck, on a basic level, what about pointing out your neighbors' continued discrimination and holding everyone in your community to a higher standard of care and equity? This felt like a terrible historical and political lesson for kids to internalize.
Some of the basic factual details also seemed inaccurate, especially around the book's timeline: what customs would have been typical at a given time, when settlers would have arrived or when events would have occurred, what relations between nearby Indigenous nations and white settlers would have been like in the different time periods mentioned, and so on. There was a fuzzy feeling of offness throughout retellings of local settlers' histories. Which is especially dangerous when potentially incorrect information is fueling how the book represents racism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Ableism, Grief, Kidnapping, and Racism
Minor: Slavery
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