Sign Language Review

Sign Language by Amy Ackley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The theme of this book is loss and survival which the author embraces whole heartedly. Abby and her family is dealing with the fact that her father has cancer and he has only been given months to live. As his illness progresses, the whole family has to find their own way of dealing with what is to come. Her father often takes a light hearted approach which her mother hates. Her brother becomes more of a caregiver than a son and Abby feels lost in the shuffle. She has moments when she is sad but cannot seem to mourn the coming loss, and other times she just wants to escape from everything around her. But life has to go on, and Abby has to find her own way to deal with how she wants her life to proceed.

I didn’t give the book five stars more because I felt Abby was often self-centered so this had nothing to do with the overall quality of the book. I will admit I had times when I wanted to shake her and tell her to snap out of it. But everyone deals with grief differently and I do respect the author’s perspective of Abby. I think this is a book for everyone, even with a girl cast as the main character. We all need a little insight to understand what others are going through in times such as these. Maybe you have already been through it yourself, but if you haven’t, you might have a better understand of how to be supportive and a good friend during someone else’s time of need. The book might also explain why a friend or relative is behaving in a way you just can’t understand. I highly recommend this book for all readers from junior high and up.


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