In Mary Lambert's community on Martha's Vineyard, 1 in 4 residents is Deaf.  Everyone—those who can hear and those who cannot—uses the town's sign language to communicate with each other.  In 1805 Chilmark, Deafness is not odd or other.  It just is.  Eleven-year-old Mary has never felt different or lesser because of her inability to hear.  Until things start to change in her world.  

When Mary's older brother dies in a tragic accident, Mary's grief is compounded by her guilt.  She knows in her broken heart that she caused his death.  Then, a scientist from Connecticut shows up in Chilmark eager to study its unique "affliction."  Although other Deaf residents are willing to be studied, Mary has no desire to become anyone's "live specimen."  When she becomes one by force, she will learn a hard lesson about how Deaf people are treated outside of Chilmark.  Can she escape back to her beloved island?  Or is Mary doomed to endure a life of servitude, humiliation, and abuse, all because she was born without being able to hear? 

Show Me a Sign, a middle-grade novel by Deaf librarian Ann Clare LeZotte, is both fascinating and eye-opening.  It's set in a real community, where during the 19th Century Deaf and hearing people intermingled every day, using their own brand of sign language to communicate.  Mary's story starts off slowly but the action soon picks up, making for an exciting and compelling tale.  Not only does the book explore what it means to be Deaf, especially in a time and place where the condition wasn't understood, but it also teaches some important lessons about ableism, racism (LeZotte draws a not-so subtle parallel between the mistreatment of the Wampanoag people and that of the Deaf), empathy, and standing up for one's self.  I don't know how appealing this one will be to young readers, but I found it engaging, illuminating, and thought-provoking.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of El Deafo by Cece Bell and Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly)

Five hundred years ago, the Great Waves destroyed the known world, burying its gleaming cities under fathoms of water.  The rusty ruins beckon to 17-year-old orphan Tempest "Tempe" Alerin, who scavenges them every day hoping to find treasures to sell.  She's been scrimping and saving her Notes ever since her older sister, Elysea, drowned two years ago.  When she finally has enough currency, she can exchange it for a wondrous gift—scientists will bring her dead sibling back to life for 24 hours.  That's all Tempe needs.  Five years ago, Elysea caused the death of their parents.  Tempe will do anything do find out why.

Reviving the dead is a carefully-controlled process, one that goes awry right from the start.  First, Elysea claims she had nothing to do with their parents' deaths.  Then, she asserts that they may still be alive.  In addition, Elysea doesn't want to spend her 24 hours of life sitting around in a boring research facility.  When the sisters find a way to escape their confines, 19-year-old Lor Ritter—the son of the scientist who invented the revival process—is charged with bringing them back.  Or else.  What ensues is a desperate race against time with Tempe and Elysea hunting for answers, with Lor in hot pursuit.  The closer the sisters get to uncovering the secrets of their watery home, the more dangerous their quest gets.  Can they find the answers they seek?  Or will both of them die trying?  

Watery dystopian worlds always fascinate me, so the setting of The Vanishing Deep by Astrid Scholte definitely got my attention.  While not everything about the world made sense, it still created an intriguing backdrop for this exciting, action-packed ecological thriller.  I liked the characters at the story's center.  It was easy to empathize with them and root for their success.  As far as plot goes, I saw the Big Reveal coming, but there were other twists that caught me by surprise.  The ending was disappointing, which made the novel feel less than satisfying.  Overall, then, I didn't love The Vanishing Deep.  It did keep me turning pages, though, and I liked it for the most part.  

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a little of Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi)

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

Will Slater and Julie Keegan are both gorgeous, ambitious, and powerful.  Their wedding, even though it's taking place at a remote island off the Irish coast with only a very select group of guests, will be the event of the season.  As the couple's nearest and dearest gather, however, tension continues to mount between the happy couple, the island's only residents, and the wedding guests.  When it reaches a fever pitch, one person is left dead.  Who hated the victim enough to kill them?  And why?  Stuck in an isolated place with no way to communicate with the outside world, those on the island must figure out which one of them is a murderer—before the killer strikes again.

With its And Then There Were None-ish premise, it's no wonder that The Guest List by Lucy Foley is being compared to Agatha Christie's classic.  The similarities, however, stop at the book's setup.  While Foley's version features a creepy, atmospheric setting, which creates a deliciously suspenseful backdrop, the story itself moves so slowly that the novel never reaches an "unputdownable" stage.  There were a few surprises in the plot but not enough to make the story feel clever or original.  In addition, the characters are almost wholly unlikable—most are immature, entitled snobs who have done terrible things to each other, which made it difficult for me to care what happened to them.  Not surprisingly, then, The Guest List made for a dark, depressing, and not super satisfying read.  I'd heard such good things about this book that I thought I would love it.  Unfortunately, I just ... didn't.  Bummer.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of One By One by Ruth Ware)

Before Pearl Harbor is bombed in 1942, the Takeda family is living in Los Angeles and doing very well for themselves.  Afterward, they start receiving the same distrustful sideways glances as every other Japanese-American in the U.S.  It's not long before suspicion turns into paranoia.  The Takedas, along with many of their friends and neighbors, are rounded up and forced into an internment camp.  With her father recently dead, 14-year-old Lucy and her mother have to fend for themselves in a place that is fraught with danger, corruption, and desperation.  Lucy's mom will do whatever she has to in order to keep herself and her daughter safe—including unspeakable acts that will have long-reaching consequences for them both.

Decades later, a murder in San Francisco leads police to Lucy.  As the investigation heats up, Lucy tells the harrowing, heartbreaking story of what really happened in Manzanar to her own daughter in an effort to clear her name and unburden her soul.

Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield is a thought-provoking story set during a shameful period of America's past.  I thought it would be more of a mystery than a historical drama—it's both, but with a heavier emphasis on the latter.  Littlefield's descriptions of life inside Manzanar are heartbreaking and barely believable, although they're based on indignities suffered in real life by real Americans.  Obviously, a story set in an internment camp during World War II is not going to be a happy one.  Garden of Stones is, not surprisingly, sad and depressing, a tale full of despairing people struggling through awful situations.  It is, however, also interesting and compelling.  The middle sags and the ending leaves some annoying loose ends, so overall, I didn't love this book.  It held my interest, though, and I liked it well enough to finish the novel and think about it quite a bit afterward.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other novels about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, such as The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner, Within These Lines by Stephanie Morrill, Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban, Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman, and Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman)