On the Bright Side Review

The second book I've read from Anna Sortino! The first one was Give Me A Sign, which I read and reviewed last year. You can read that review here.

On The Bright Side is a dual POV book. Ellie is a senior in high school, but her deaf boarding school just closed due to lack of funding. So she has to move back in with her parents who can't understand her and her disability and go to mainstream public school with an interpreter (well, two of them). Jackson is another senior who is a star athlete, but recently has been getting sick a lot and he can't perform as well as he once has. His alternative medicine-loving parents make it hard for him to go to the doctor and figure out what's going on with him (they eventually do, but reluctantly). 

The school guidance counselor Ms. Lilly decides that Jackson will show Ellie around the school and help her get situated. Ellie and Jackson end up becoming good friends and even start dating, but Jackson is worried if his recently diagnosed chronic illness (I won't tell you what it is here) will get in the way of them having a serious relationship. 

At the same time, Ellie is able to move out of her house and live in a shared home with some other deaf girls she meets at the school's sign language club, who are actually students at the local community college. 

I'll leave it there so it won't get into spoilers. 

Wow! I love this book so much. I gave it 5 stars.  I think I might like it even more than Give Me A Sign. This one was a little more dramatic and serious, but in a good way. It made me feel way more feelings! I love how Anna Sortino showcased multiple sides to being disabled: from disability pride and to internalized ableism that sometimes happens. It showed how there's a lot of nuance in being disabled. I'm not physically disabled myself but I am autistic, so I could relate to a lot of what was shown.