Give Me a Sign
Ebook
$8.99
- Pages: 320 Pages
- Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
- Imprint: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
- ISBN: 9780593533819
An Excerpt From
Give Me a Sign
My heart is racing, and I’m not sure if it’s from lifting the bag or from realizing who helped me.
“Thank you,” I say breathlessly.
“You’re welcome,” he signs. He points past me and signs something else.
I freeze. I want to answer him in sign, but I’m unsure exactly what he’s asking. He gives a small shrug, likely knowing that I didn’t understand, and walks around me to grab his backpack from his bunk . . . which is directly below mine. Of all the beds I could have chosen! At least he won’t be able to hear me if I snore in my sleep.
“Are you new this year?” he asks, this time mouthing the words a little bit, which I know is purely for my benefit.
“Um, no,” I say, begging my brain to remember any of the ASL I practiced. “Long time ago, I was here,” I say and sign. “As a camper.”
“Wait . . . ” He tilts his head to the side. His wonderfully expressive eyebrows do a lot of communicating for him as he raises them and leans forward. “I think I remember you. Bug, right?”
“Whoa,” I say and sign. “Yes! You were a camper here, too?” I am certain I would remember him.
“Yeah, and then ————,” he signs. I don’t follow most of his response, but he raises his hand from his chest to his head, signing that he’s grown taller. “I look different, maybe.”
“Oh right, good,” I say and sign, nodding while my brain races to try to process more of what he signed.
“Good?” he asks, his eyebrows raised and a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Good, as in, I think I remember you now, too,” I say and sign quickly, cursing my limited vocabulary and feeling the blush rise on my cheeks. I stare down at his worn running sneakers that are caked in dry mud and laced with bright-green cords.
“I’m I————,” he signs.
“Sorry,” I say, hoping that my frustration at my lacking ASL doesn’t come across as overly apologetic. “Again, please.”
He smiles and patiently spells out his name again. “I-s-a-a-c.”
“L-i-l-” But my hand is shaking, and I mess up, jumbling my letters. I close my hand into a fist, take a brief pause, and start again. “L-i-l-a-h.”