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Talk Under Water
Will and Summer meet online and strike up a friendship based on coincidence. Summer lives in Will's old hometown, Kettering, a small Tasmanian coastal community. Summer isn't telling the whole truth about herself, but figures it doesn't matter if they never see each other in person, right?
When Will returns to Kettering, the two finally meet and Summer can no longer hide her secret – she is deaf. Can Summer and Will find a way to be friends in person even though they speak a completely different language?
When Will returns to Kettering, the two finally meet and Summer can no longer hide her secret – she is deaf. Can Summer and Will find a way to be friends in person even though they speak a completely different language?
336 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 2015
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453 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
November 11, 2015
I saw this book being advertised in my school library, and immediately my eyes caught the words "deaf girl".
I'm deaf. I'm a girl. I'm Australian.
Needless to say, this sent me rushing straight to the "L" section of Senior Fiction to nab the book and then check it out. I'm a quarter of the way through already and it's barely been four hours.
I speak both English and Auslan (note: this does not hold true for all deaf people - I am able to speak English due to having a cochlear implant and early intervention from the ages of 1-5) and this was a great read for me. I was able to relate incredibly well to Summer, and every new little Deaf mannerism or sign she used had me shoving the book down on the table/my lap/whatever surface was available and attempting to hold in my screams of joy.
True story.
I'm loving the storyline of Will attempting to bridge the gap between him and Summer by learning Auslan. I have many friends who do the same, and they respect me as a deaf person and they respect my need to a) lip read them and b) use sign in a noisy environment. I've really come to respect Will as a character. Sure, at first he's rather upset that Summer hasn't told him she was deaf online, but he comes to terms with it and goes to Auslan classes.
This book, within the first few pages, moved up to #1 on my list of "All-Time Favourite Books". I congratulate Kathryn Lomer on an extremely well-done plot and characters! I've spent the last five minutes attempting to dig up an e-mail address or something to reach her with, but to no avail. Ah well, Kathryn, if you ever read this - I hugely admire you and Talk Under the Water made not just my week, but my whole year.
I'm deaf. I'm a girl. I'm Australian.
Needless to say, this sent me rushing straight to the "L" section of Senior Fiction to nab the book and then check it out. I'm a quarter of the way through already and it's barely been four hours.
I speak both English and Auslan (note: this does not hold true for all deaf people - I am able to speak English due to having a cochlear implant and early intervention from the ages of 1-5) and this was a great read for me. I was able to relate incredibly well to Summer, and every new little Deaf mannerism or sign she used had me shoving the book down on the table/my lap/whatever surface was available and attempting to hold in my screams of joy.
True story.
I'm loving the storyline of Will attempting to bridge the gap between him and Summer by learning Auslan. I have many friends who do the same, and they respect me as a deaf person and they respect my need to a) lip read them and b) use sign in a noisy environment. I've really come to respect Will as a character. Sure, at first he's rather upset that Summer hasn't told him she was deaf online, but he comes to terms with it and goes to Auslan classes.
This book, within the first few pages, moved up to #1 on my list of "All-Time Favourite Books". I congratulate Kathryn Lomer on an extremely well-done plot and characters! I've spent the last five minutes attempting to dig up an e-mail address or something to reach her with, but to no avail. Ah well, Kathryn, if you ever read this - I hugely admire you and Talk Under the Water made not just my week, but my whole year.
February 14, 2017
I love this book: Kathryn Lomer's love of nature, her amazing sense of place, the beauty of Tasmamia. I feel the wind in my hair, the spray on my face, circumnavigating Bruny Island. I don't know why it took me 6 months to finish reading, perhaps I wanted to savour my enjoyment.
Will and Summer meet online through their shared love of sailing and Jessica Watson. When Will unexpectedly turns up in Summer's home town Kettering, he's in for a shock. Summer isn't quite who she said she was, and they don't even share a language.
I enjoyed finding out about Auslan and the differences between communicating through signing as opposed to speaking. Will takes a course in Auslan so he can talk with Summer and the reader learns as Will does. He seems to pick it up really quickly, but I guess Summer is a good incentive. Then Summer's friend Rosemary says his signing sucks and it all becomes clear.
I knew nothing about Auslan and wondered how well Lomer wrote the experience of a deaf girl. Teenage reader Ally is fluent in Auslan and English and loved the portrayal. At the end of the book are pictures of the fingerspelling alphabet and a list of books to find out more.
At the start of their friendship, Will often mentions when they spend time together they aren't communicating. Over time he realises there are other ways to communicate without talking: signing, gestures, facial expressions, emailing and writing on paper.
I loved when Will tries to describe the sounds of the beach to Summer, translate from sound into signs:
Summer thinks of Truganini and other Aboriginal inhabitants of what was once Lunawanna-alonnah. At her memorial, Summer wonders about Truganini's early happier life and the place names we never knew.
As with What Now, Tilda B? there were no quotation marks for speech, including when Will and Summer signed together. I didn't mind this as much as with What Now Tilda B, perhaps I don't equate signing with speech. But every now and then I got confused and wasn't sure if a sentence was speech or narration. I'm sure there's some artsy, e e cummings reason Kathryn Lomer eschews quote marks, but I don't get it.
As Will and Summer become friends, Oh yeah and they circumnavigate Bruny Island in the Albatross. For such a slow paced book, things suddenly careen right up shit creek.
I love this extended metaphor of Summer's butterflies of trepidation, nothing like sheep, they've got minds of their own.
The cover design by Zoë Sadokierski is exceptional, those brilliant red fish really pop.
This review is from my blog http://ofceilingwax.wordpress.com/201...
Will and Summer meet online through their shared love of sailing and Jessica Watson. When Will unexpectedly turns up in Summer's home town Kettering, he's in for a shock. Summer isn't quite who she said she was, and they don't even share a language.
"We fish together like old friends who have no need of language anyway."
I enjoyed finding out about Auslan and the differences between communicating through signing as opposed to speaking. Will takes a course in Auslan so he can talk with Summer and the reader learns as Will does. He seems to pick it up really quickly, but I guess Summer is a good incentive. Then Summer's friend Rosemary says his signing sucks and it all becomes clear.
"I was born with my voice in my hands."
I knew nothing about Auslan and wondered how well Lomer wrote the experience of a deaf girl. Teenage reader Ally is fluent in Auslan and English and loved the portrayal. At the end of the book are pictures of the fingerspelling alphabet and a list of books to find out more.
"We have Deaf poetry. Not translations of English. The meaning is all in the signing. It moves like a dance."
At the start of their friendship, Will often mentions when they spend time together they aren't communicating. Over time he realises there are other ways to communicate without talking: signing, gestures, facial expressions, emailing and writing on paper.
"Everything we need to say is right there between us. Why do people place so much importance on words anyway?
I loved when Will tries to describe the sounds of the beach to Summer, translate from sound into signs:
"It looks as though he's the conductor of an orchestra, instructing the waves what sound to make, what rhythm to keep to, how loud a crash to make."
Summer thinks of Truganini and other Aboriginal inhabitants of what was once Lunawanna-alonnah. At her memorial, Summer wonders about Truganini's early happier life and the place names we never knew.
"Each headland and bay named by someone white in the past couple of hundred years. But when I look up at the coastline, I imagine Aboriginal people standing there watching strange white-sailed ships pass. Truganini's ancestors perhaps."
As with What Now, Tilda B? there were no quotation marks for speech, including when Will and Summer signed together. I didn't mind this as much as with What Now Tilda B, perhaps I don't equate signing with speech. But every now and then I got confused and wasn't sure if a sentence was speech or narration. I'm sure there's some artsy, e e cummings reason Kathryn Lomer eschews quote marks, but I don't get it.
"I think of what that beach must look like from a wedge-tailed eagle's point of view a kilometre up in the sky. And I think about what life might look like if I became a photographer."
As Will and Summer become friends, Oh yeah and they circumnavigate Bruny Island in the Albatross. For such a slow paced book, things suddenly careen right up shit creek.
"Mum says it's okay to have butterflies anyway, but the trick is to get them flying in formation."
I love this extended metaphor of Summer's butterflies of trepidation, nothing like sheep, they've got minds of their own.
The cover design by Zoë Sadokierski is exceptional, those brilliant red fish really pop.
This review is from my blog http://ofceilingwax.wordpress.com/201...
September 10, 2015
Will and Summer meet online and strike up a friendship. It starts initially because Summer is living in Will’s home town of Kettering in Tasmania. Summer has not told Will she is deaf, figuring it will not matter as they are not likely to ever meet. But then Will and his Dad move back to Kettering. How will and Summer be able to talk to each other and will he still like her when he knows the truth?
I liked both the characters of Summer and Will and also Summer’s mother and Will’s dad. Tim’s friend Cully is an idiot, or maybe just a typical teenage boy who doesn’t know how to handle someone who is a bit different or the fact that Will has a new friend. Cully causes more than his share of trouble in the novel, endangering Will and Summer.
This story has obviously involved a lot of research. Not only is there a great deal about sign language and being deaf but it is also filled with interesting titbits like the information about Truganini and her people and this shameful story in history.
Though the circumstances are different for Will and Summer, the story showed how two teenagers deal with loss of family members. The majority of the story was handled really well. There were just a couple of examples of the F word and other things that I thought the story could have easily done without and they would not have been missed. It’s a shame those couple of things spoilt was is otherwise a really good read that raises lots of issues about friendship, bullying, disabilities, jealousy and boy/girl relationships.
I liked both the characters of Summer and Will and also Summer’s mother and Will’s dad. Tim’s friend Cully is an idiot, or maybe just a typical teenage boy who doesn’t know how to handle someone who is a bit different or the fact that Will has a new friend. Cully causes more than his share of trouble in the novel, endangering Will and Summer.
This story has obviously involved a lot of research. Not only is there a great deal about sign language and being deaf but it is also filled with interesting titbits like the information about Truganini and her people and this shameful story in history.
Though the circumstances are different for Will and Summer, the story showed how two teenagers deal with loss of family members. The majority of the story was handled really well. There were just a couple of examples of the F word and other things that I thought the story could have easily done without and they would not have been missed. It’s a shame those couple of things spoilt was is otherwise a really good read that raises lots of issues about friendship, bullying, disabilities, jealousy and boy/girl relationships.
August 28, 2015
Yet another underrated Aussie gem! I feel like there are quite a lot of Australian YA novels which aren't widely recognised by the general YA readership, and it's a bit of a pity, because a lot of them are pretty great. Talk Under Water was an interesting look into how deaf people communicate, and the difficulties in developing a friendship with someone who can't "speak" to you.
Starting off with a small negative: something that slightly annoyed me was that there aren't any speech marks in the book, which was done for a relatively justifiable reason i.e. because one of the characters is deaf. However, this did confuse me at times, where I wasn't really sure whether the characters were speaking or thinking etc.
On the other hand, that minor annoyance was basically nothing in the scheme of things. While I have to admit the book didn't have too much in terms of actual things happening in the plot, the relationship development between Will and Summer was more than enough to keep me interested in reading. It was just a very down to earth sort of book, where there weren't any huge dramas or overarching mysteries, but in turn there was a very realistic and relateable tone.
Definitely recommended to those who want a quieter, realistic novel.
Ratings
Overall: 8/10
Plot: 4/5
Romance: 4.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Starting off with a small negative: something that slightly annoyed me was that there aren't any speech marks in the book, which was done for a relatively justifiable reason i.e. because one of the characters is deaf. However, this did confuse me at times, where I wasn't really sure whether the characters were speaking or thinking etc.
On the other hand, that minor annoyance was basically nothing in the scheme of things. While I have to admit the book didn't have too much in terms of actual things happening in the plot, the relationship development between Will and Summer was more than enough to keep me interested in reading. It was just a very down to earth sort of book, where there weren't any huge dramas or overarching mysteries, but in turn there was a very realistic and relateable tone.
Definitely recommended to those who want a quieter, realistic novel.
Ratings
Overall: 8/10
Plot: 4/5
Romance: 4.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Cover: 3.5/5
May 2, 2018
This was a cute book about contemporary romance with a deaf MC and a guy who doesn't let obstacles get in the way of love. I couldn't get enough of this book and read it in one sitting. It was very adorable and the pick me up I needed.
Summer and Will meet online and start chatting regularly. Summer doesn't tell Will she is deaf because she is so caught up in him and she doesn't really think she will ever see him face to face. He likes her for who she is and she doesn't want to spoil anything. They start officially dating and things are great, until Will and his dad move back to Kettering where Summer also lives.
Summer can't avoid Will, especially with how much she cares for him and they arrange to meet. Will is understandably upset when he finds out she can't hear and gets frustrated. When he calms down he realizes she is still the same person and he takes classes to learn how to sign with her. They go on sailing adventures and I learned a lot about sailing since I've never been before. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone needing a HEA moment.
Summer and Will meet online and start chatting regularly. Summer doesn't tell Will she is deaf because she is so caught up in him and she doesn't really think she will ever see him face to face. He likes her for who she is and she doesn't want to spoil anything. They start officially dating and things are great, until Will and his dad move back to Kettering where Summer also lives.
Summer can't avoid Will, especially with how much she cares for him and they arrange to meet. Will is understandably upset when he finds out she can't hear and gets frustrated. When he calms down he realizes she is still the same person and he takes classes to learn how to sign with her. They go on sailing adventures and I learned a lot about sailing since I've never been before. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone needing a HEA moment.
January 15, 2018
Talk Under Water had all the right elements to potentially be something special. Its execution left a lot to be desired, though. In fact, I almost had to DNF this on multiple occasions. Why? Mostly the characters. I could not stand them. If this had been a middle-grade story, I don’t think I would have struggled so much; Will and Summer were meant to be sixteen but their voices were so incredibly juvenile that I could not picture them any older than, say, thirteen/fourteen. At the most. I had so many little qualms with them on an individual level. Will grew on me slowly but boy did he rub me the wrong way for the majority of the story. His initial response to discovering that Summer was deaf, for one, frustrated me. He focused on the fact that she had omitted this in their short online friendship, rather than the fact she had bloody catfished him with a picture of her sister! I mean! That is so much more of a red flag.
I did not think the plot or writing were captivating in the slightest. I wanted more atmosphere and needed more emotion from the characters. The lack of dialogue tags was also infuriating and unnecessary.
I also could not wrap my mind around the fact these were sixteen-year-olds in 2015 that - despite literally meeting via Facebook - communicated solely through email. They never texted or used social media, despite living in the same town and meeting up constantly. It seemed so unrealistic and bothered me a lot. I did like that their relationship was sweet and more friendship-orientated than romantic.
Deaf representation, though. Yay! I wished this had not been another story of a hearing character learning acceptance, though, and I will admit that I have read better representation. It was nice to see Auslan featured, however, and I did like that Will’s arc including addressing some of his and his friend’s ableist attitudes from the beginning of the book.
Overall? I really do not see why this is one of the highest rated #OzYA novels. It had bland protagonists and a boring plot that failed to engage me. Lomer’s writing was too plain for my taste and her dialogue unrealistic. The teenaged characters felt outdated and it really bothered me. I do not think I’ll be reaching for any of this author’s other books, personally.
Trigger warnings for ableism, parental abandonment and grief.
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I did not think the plot or writing were captivating in the slightest. I wanted more atmosphere and needed more emotion from the characters. The lack of dialogue tags was also infuriating and unnecessary.
I also could not wrap my mind around the fact these were sixteen-year-olds in 2015 that - despite literally meeting via Facebook - communicated solely through email. They never texted or used social media, despite living in the same town and meeting up constantly. It seemed so unrealistic and bothered me a lot. I did like that their relationship was sweet and more friendship-orientated than romantic.
Deaf representation, though. Yay! I wished this had not been another story of a hearing character learning acceptance, though, and I will admit that I have read better representation. It was nice to see Auslan featured, however, and I did like that Will’s arc including addressing some of his and his friend’s ableist attitudes from the beginning of the book.
Overall? I really do not see why this is one of the highest rated #OzYA novels. It had bland protagonists and a boring plot that failed to engage me. Lomer’s writing was too plain for my taste and her dialogue unrealistic. The teenaged characters felt outdated and it really bothered me. I do not think I’ll be reaching for any of this author’s other books, personally.
Trigger warnings for ableism, parental abandonment and grief.
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October 17, 2016
Talk Under Water by Kathryn Lomer
This book is so cleverly subtle. Summer is a deaf girl. Will is a hearing boy. They meet via email and at first Will doesn’t realise that Summer is deaf. This is a story of a diverse couple trying to have a relationship. It is a gentle story that is quiet for a purpose: Summer is deaf so the book has a silence that is supported not only by a lack of quote marks in dialogue, but even Summer’s spelling and grammar in her emails supports the way a person deaf from birth speaks and writes. English is her second language. I learned so much and felt so much while reading this book. Every choice Lomer has made about the story, content, voice, tone, punctuation, POV and plot has been determined by the character of Summer. I love it when this happens in a story.
Will enters Summer’s world; learns Auslan. They find they can talk underwater in sign. The deaf community is also portrayed with sensitivity. The setting is hauntingly evoked. The sailing references to Jessica Watson are interesting. I looked up a map of Keetering in Tasmania to see where Will and Summer sailed.
A finger spelling alphabet is included. The story has inspired me to start learning it again. This is a very needful book for schools and individuals of any age. Yes, we need this kind of diversity.
This book is so cleverly subtle. Summer is a deaf girl. Will is a hearing boy. They meet via email and at first Will doesn’t realise that Summer is deaf. This is a story of a diverse couple trying to have a relationship. It is a gentle story that is quiet for a purpose: Summer is deaf so the book has a silence that is supported not only by a lack of quote marks in dialogue, but even Summer’s spelling and grammar in her emails supports the way a person deaf from birth speaks and writes. English is her second language. I learned so much and felt so much while reading this book. Every choice Lomer has made about the story, content, voice, tone, punctuation, POV and plot has been determined by the character of Summer. I love it when this happens in a story.
Will enters Summer’s world; learns Auslan. They find they can talk underwater in sign. The deaf community is also portrayed with sensitivity. The setting is hauntingly evoked. The sailing references to Jessica Watson are interesting. I looked up a map of Keetering in Tasmania to see where Will and Summer sailed.
A finger spelling alphabet is included. The story has inspired me to start learning it again. This is a very needful book for schools and individuals of any age. Yes, we need this kind of diversity.
February 8, 2017
Absolutely amazing. Loved this :)
Talk Under Water was a really cute book. Summer and Will's relationship puts friendship first and going out second - this book had almost no conflict besides Cully sending that nasty email to Summer from Will's account, but besides that it was pretty hey-ho-everyone-gets-along.
My only pet peeve was that there were no speech marks - which is reasonable because Summer is deaf - but it made it really difficult to separate thinking from speech.
Just a small thing but how they always signed off on emails like 'Summer x' or 'will xo' was so sweet.
I was rooting for them the whole book and I really hoped Will worked it out with his mum!
Talk Under Water was a really cute book. Summer and Will's relationship puts friendship first and going out second - this book had almost no conflict besides Cully sending that nasty email to Summer from Will's account, but besides that it was pretty hey-ho-everyone-gets-along.
My only pet peeve was that there were no speech marks - which is reasonable because Summer is deaf - but it made it really difficult to separate thinking from speech.
Just a small thing but how they always signed off on emails like 'Summer x' or 'will xo' was so sweet.
I was rooting for them the whole book and I really hoped Will worked it out with his mum!
August 16, 2017
Catching up on books I haven't had access to, while I look after someone else's library.
I found this gentle and engaging. Summer's voice is distinct from Will's - and I really liked how the relationship stayed primarily in the friend range. Will doesn't push Summer at all. In fact, she initiates some of the flirting.
Lovely read.
I found this gentle and engaging. Summer's voice is distinct from Will's - and I really liked how the relationship stayed primarily in the friend range. Will doesn't push Summer at all. In fact, she initiates some of the flirting.
Lovely read.
March 10, 2017
3.75 stars
Cute story
Cute story
April 19, 2016
Also reviewed on my Youtube channel.
This book was seriously cute while also being surprisingly educational. It's a split narrative YA contemporary that tells the story of Will and Summer, who meet on the Facebook page for Jessica Watson who, as a teenager, completed a solo circumnavigation of the world. Summer lives in Kettering, a small town in Tasmania. Will's from Kettering, but living in Eden on the south coast of New South Wales with his father. It's Summer's mention of Kettering that makes him reach out to her, and the two start emailing and become friends.
Not long after, Will's dad gets a job in Hobart and they move back to Kettering, allowing Will and Summer to meet for the first time. And it becomes apparent that Summer has left a few things out of her emails to Will, namely the fact that she's deaf.
I loved how authentically teenaged this felt. Will and Summer have several arguments in the course of the book, and their reactions are totally how the teenagers I work with would react. I love that Will's reaction to finding out that Summer is deaf is to look up Youtube videos about AusLAN and to enrol in a short course so that he can communicate with her face-to-face. I love that there are misunderstandings and awkward moments and things that are hard to talk about. I love that there was discussion of the sentiment towards Cochlear implants in the deaf community, and basically, this book was pretty damned fabulous.
A quick and easy read, although there were times when I struggled with the lack of dialogue marks throughout.
This book was seriously cute while also being surprisingly educational. It's a split narrative YA contemporary that tells the story of Will and Summer, who meet on the Facebook page for Jessica Watson who, as a teenager, completed a solo circumnavigation of the world. Summer lives in Kettering, a small town in Tasmania. Will's from Kettering, but living in Eden on the south coast of New South Wales with his father. It's Summer's mention of Kettering that makes him reach out to her, and the two start emailing and become friends.
Not long after, Will's dad gets a job in Hobart and they move back to Kettering, allowing Will and Summer to meet for the first time. And it becomes apparent that Summer has left a few things out of her emails to Will, namely the fact that she's deaf.
I loved how authentically teenaged this felt. Will and Summer have several arguments in the course of the book, and their reactions are totally how the teenagers I work with would react. I love that Will's reaction to finding out that Summer is deaf is to look up Youtube videos about AusLAN and to enrol in a short course so that he can communicate with her face-to-face. I love that there are misunderstandings and awkward moments and things that are hard to talk about. I love that there was discussion of the sentiment towards Cochlear implants in the deaf community, and basically, this book was pretty damned fabulous.
A quick and easy read, although there were times when I struggled with the lack of dialogue marks throughout.
August 23, 2015
This book begins with the most interesting premise. Two teens, Will and Summer, inspired by Jessica Watson’s epic solo circumnavigation of the world, meet on her fan Facebook site. From there a friendship develops through emails and Facebook posts exchanged between them as they discover that, aside from an admiration of Jessica Watson, they have a lot in common. Told in dual narratives, and using letters, poetry and prose, it explores what happens when the two meet, and Will discovers that Summer has been hiding her deafness from him. Will also has his secrets too as he struggles to accept his mother back into his life after she left his father. What is so wonderful about this story is the genuine friendship that develops between the two who learn that there are many forms of communication.
Themes of courage, friendship, families, hearing impairment, family breakdown, trust.
Teacher’s notes: http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/store/images...
Suitable for 12+
Themes of courage, friendship, families, hearing impairment, family breakdown, trust.
Teacher’s notes: http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/store/images...
Suitable for 12+
October 10, 2015
This was a very enjoyable contemporary, an easy read, but also very insightful. The way this book was executed was unlike anything I have read. The dual POV was done very well and each character had a unique and distinctive voice/way of writing. My only problems were that I found it hard myself to connect with the characters much (which may just be because we don't have much in common) and some parts were a little boring/felt like fillers. I'll be doing a full review of this on my YouTube channel 'books kay' on Tuesday the 13th of October
December 20, 2015
I really wanted to like this! And I persevered somewhat (not very much though) because it's Australian, and it's nice to see deafness in literature. Only...nothing was happening, and I gather from other reviewers that nothing was GOING to happen. This would have been better as a middle grade book - the characters spoke more like 12-year-olds than the 16 they were supposed to be. And, maybe a bit nit-picky, but I did AUSLAN for a whole semester and didn't know nearly as much as Will conveniently did after one hour of lesson.
Anyway. Cool idea. Could be done better.
Anyway. Cool idea. Could be done better.
September 21, 2015
In A Nutshell: Talk Under Water has lovely, refreshing characters was an absolute joy to read, putting a smile on my face and leaving me feeling content and hopeful for the future.
My full is review is available here: http://www.thetalescompendium.com/201...
My full is review is available here: http://www.thetalescompendium.com/201...
July 26, 2018
By far the worst book I have ever read in my entire life. The plot line sucks; the writing is awful; the characters are incredibly two dimensional except for their Tragic BackstoryTM; the grammar was almost nonexistent and the language was incredibly unrealistic. I do not recommend.
December 17, 2022
Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.
I'm really not a fan of YA instalove, so I was really looking forward to the book being over. Overall, this is an okay representation of a deaf character, as far as physiological and social realities.
But the story isn't about Summer. She's a stagnant character who doesn't really do anything but think about Will, wondering why he likes her, what his motivations for doing anything he does are, and so forth. She's so enamored with him that within a few weeks of hanging out with him, she makes this painting of them together (more on this later). Summer's "chapters" are super short, and she never doesn't think/write/sign about Will. (I count only 2 sections/chapters, 3-paragraphs and 2-paragraphs, in which Summer doesn't think of Will.) It's stagnant and boring.
Will, on the other hand, is experiencing an actual journey into language and culture, and dealing with a toxic friendship and divorced parents. He can go pages without a mention of Summer. So why doesn't Summer have more going on in her life? But even Will's journey is more of a series of epiphanies. It's just realization after realization after realization, and he never really examines any of this. He actually thinks at one point that he needs to come to terms with something, but he's never actually shown coming to terms with it. He's literally fine the next day without having put in any kind of work to self-reflect.
But anyway, let's get into the deaf representation. I'm not going to go over every single detail, but the stuff that stands out to me. Here's what Lomer does right:
- Lomer cites several Auslan books and dictionaries. She points out that grammar mistakes are par for the course for ESL speakers/writers. Lomer also simplifies the distinction between D/deaf. (In the field of Deaf Studies, we are actually moving away from the D/deaf distinction, particularly because of how divisive it is and because it was coined by a hearing person.) The uppercase Deaf is used in reference to Deaf literature, but otherwise it is lowercased. She thanks several deaf people for their advice and guidance. Her disclaimer at the end is super nice: "Although others [not included] have given me advice and feedback, any inaccuracies in the book remain entirely my own." Does this mean she's ignored some advice for the drama? It's possible that she did, but I wouldn't know what kind of feedback she's gotten on some of these events/characterizations.
- Summer doesn't want to attend school because it'll be too hard and she doesn't want to be the "special needs girl," especially after her experience with being bullied in mainstream school. She can't attend a residency school because there are none: the Tasmanian Institute for the Blind and Deaf closed in 1976. (Where do her friends go to school? Why doesn't she attend that school?) Summer went to a deaf preschool and primary school, but then all the support stopped because at the time no legislation required deaf students receive educational support. Summer mentions that another deaf girl and her family sued the government and won the right to this educational support. I'm not sure if this is historical fact; I'm only finding sources on the deaf woman who sued for the right to serve on a jury (2012).
- Summer is at a cafe with friends, and Will stares. The girls make all sorts of noises as they sign, causing others to turn and look. Cully notices them too and wants to go hit on them, thinking deaf people don't exist because his nan has a bionic ear (cochlear implant). And they look so "normal." I've run into plenty of people who think like this.
- A man yelling at Summer from a distance refuses to believe she's deaf. Will goes to her and mimes that she's not allowed to fish at that spot, so she joins him at his spot. Summer pulls out a notebook and pen to write with him.
- Summer's house has a flashing doorbell.
- Meeting Summer's deaf friends, one comments that Will's signing sucks. He misses the comment. And yet there's rarely a miscommunication between Summer and Will. Because they have that teen love connection, I guess? But there are some problematic passages as far as Will's signing goes, because he never forgets a sign once he learns it.
Things that aren't necessarily "wrong" but annoy the hell out of me:
- Cully is a caricature of a toxic friend and audist person. Everything he does and says is so over the top that he doesn't seem like a real person. He "means well," but does things like threaten to throw Summer's cowgirl boots overboard on the yacht, and uses Will's email to tell Summer that if she could speak she would be perfect. Will sees it and suddenly realizes that that's what he really thinks even if he wouldn't say it. (Will never actually confronts this, either.) Anyway, Will is fine to put up with all of Cully's ableism and general shittiness, but he draws the line when Cully brags about getting naked with Summer (the truth, but omitted she did it because Cully was dying of hypothermia and they needed to cuddle for life). Will ends the friendship over this. Very "don't talk about my girlfriend, but any other girl is fair game" vibes. And yet Summer urges him to be friends with Cully again because the boys have a history?? Gross.
- Summer's older sister, Violet, refuses to sign because she thinks it makes her look stupid. The younger sister sometimes signs and sometimes doesn't, even when Summer is around and practically begging for access to the conversation. The only family member who consistently signs is the mother. In my own experience it is fairly accurate for hearing family members to not sign, or sign on a very low level. It's odd to me that Violet won't even sign at home, when no one but family is around to see her "look stupid." The mom's fluency is also a bit of a surprise to me, since it's fairly rare for parents to know signs well. In reality, it would most likely be the little sister who would be most fluent and become the "official" interpreter between the family and the deaf family member. I guess it's nice the author shook things up a bit here? But it'd have been nice to flesh out the family characters a bit more.
- Lomer sometimes glosses (writes English words in Auslan order), sometimes translates (writes English sentences for Auslan dialog). It's inconsistent. Glossing is generally annoying to me, because it would be like writing any other language like Japanese in the wrong order. It wouldn't be so bad if it was Will glossing, but Summer glossing is kind of weird.
- Summer mentions her father (deceased) had learned Auslan from two deaf neighbors at age 5. Did he remember it for 15+ years so it would be handy when Summer was born? She later says that dad remained friends with the deaf boys for years, but there's no mention of the family taking any formal courses or dad needing to brush up on signs or anything. It's just a little too convenient and superficial.
- This one really bothers me: Summer's painting depicts a goshawk with its eyes reflecting human figures. In the left eye, the girl has no ears or mouth, and in the right eye, it's Summer's face (including ears and mouth). The boy is Will. So in other words, Will "completes" her. He gives her or is her ears and mouth. She literally paints him as a hearing savior. Barf. Tell me you're a hearing writer without telling me you're a hearing writer. I shared this scene in a Facebook group for international deaf people, and the consensus is that this is really gross, and although plenty of people in that group (including me) jokingly refer to partners/spouses as their "hearing ear person," we don't actually think they give us or are our ears or mouth. This is the scene that makes me wonder if Lomer ignored feedback from her deaf advisers.
Things that don't work for me at all:
- Summer is kind of silly, and not in a cute way. Like she doesn't know how the world works, and just wonders about other people's experiences and motivations constantly. She knows what whistling is, but wonders why Will is doing it. "It's not to communicate something. Is it?" Girl, if you know what whistling is, you know damm well it's either to get attention or to make music. Deaf people literally aren't this ignorant. Someone actually has to tell her that boys are humans and have feelings, too. Come on.
- Summer and Will see a whale and calf swim by. Will signs, "Whales under water. Just listen!" Then he slaps his forehead, embarrassed because he had meant it as a joke, but not a "deaf" joke. What was the joke supposed to be?? We don't get any context for this at all, and I'm just very confused by this.
- Hearing authors love having hearing non-signing characters unconsciously sign when they're emotional. Do second language learners do that with any other language? You take one German class and then when you get excited or angry you start muttering in German? Genuinely curious. Since this seems to be a staple in hearing authors' works.
- When it's dark outside, of course Will and Summer perfectly understand each other by signing into their hands. It's not like your tactile sense is very different from your visual sense, or that understanding tactile sign takes practice. No, you just do it, and understanding magically blossoms between you. It's linguistic osmosis. Yeesh! Another staple in works by hearing authors writing signing characters.
That's pretty much all I bring to the discussion. Don't like the story, don't like the characters. But it's not the worst deaf character I've seen.
I'm really not a fan of YA instalove, so I was really looking forward to the book being over. Overall, this is an okay representation of a deaf character, as far as physiological and social realities.
But the story isn't about Summer. She's a stagnant character who doesn't really do anything but think about Will, wondering why he likes her, what his motivations for doing anything he does are, and so forth. She's so enamored with him that within a few weeks of hanging out with him, she makes this painting of them together (more on this later). Summer's "chapters" are super short, and she never doesn't think/write/sign about Will. (I count only 2 sections/chapters, 3-paragraphs and 2-paragraphs, in which Summer doesn't think of Will.) It's stagnant and boring.
Will, on the other hand, is experiencing an actual journey into language and culture, and dealing with a toxic friendship and divorced parents. He can go pages without a mention of Summer. So why doesn't Summer have more going on in her life? But even Will's journey is more of a series of epiphanies. It's just realization after realization after realization, and he never really examines any of this. He actually thinks at one point that he needs to come to terms with something, but he's never actually shown coming to terms with it. He's literally fine the next day without having put in any kind of work to self-reflect.
But anyway, let's get into the deaf representation. I'm not going to go over every single detail, but the stuff that stands out to me. Here's what Lomer does right:
- Lomer cites several Auslan books and dictionaries. She points out that grammar mistakes are par for the course for ESL speakers/writers. Lomer also simplifies the distinction between D/deaf. (In the field of Deaf Studies, we are actually moving away from the D/deaf distinction, particularly because of how divisive it is and because it was coined by a hearing person.) The uppercase Deaf is used in reference to Deaf literature, but otherwise it is lowercased. She thanks several deaf people for their advice and guidance. Her disclaimer at the end is super nice: "Although others [not included] have given me advice and feedback, any inaccuracies in the book remain entirely my own." Does this mean she's ignored some advice for the drama? It's possible that she did, but I wouldn't know what kind of feedback she's gotten on some of these events/characterizations.
- Summer doesn't want to attend school because it'll be too hard and she doesn't want to be the "special needs girl," especially after her experience with being bullied in mainstream school. She can't attend a residency school because there are none: the Tasmanian Institute for the Blind and Deaf closed in 1976. (Where do her friends go to school? Why doesn't she attend that school?) Summer went to a deaf preschool and primary school, but then all the support stopped because at the time no legislation required deaf students receive educational support. Summer mentions that another deaf girl and her family sued the government and won the right to this educational support. I'm not sure if this is historical fact; I'm only finding sources on the deaf woman who sued for the right to serve on a jury (2012).
- Summer is at a cafe with friends, and Will stares. The girls make all sorts of noises as they sign, causing others to turn and look. Cully notices them too and wants to go hit on them, thinking deaf people don't exist because his nan has a bionic ear (cochlear implant). And they look so "normal." I've run into plenty of people who think like this.
- A man yelling at Summer from a distance refuses to believe she's deaf. Will goes to her and mimes that she's not allowed to fish at that spot, so she joins him at his spot. Summer pulls out a notebook and pen to write with him.
- Summer's house has a flashing doorbell.
- Meeting Summer's deaf friends, one comments that Will's signing sucks. He misses the comment. And yet there's rarely a miscommunication between Summer and Will. Because they have that teen love connection, I guess? But there are some problematic passages as far as Will's signing goes, because he never forgets a sign once he learns it.
Things that aren't necessarily "wrong" but annoy the hell out of me:
- Cully is a caricature of a toxic friend and audist person. Everything he does and says is so over the top that he doesn't seem like a real person. He "means well," but does things like threaten to throw Summer's cowgirl boots overboard on the yacht, and uses Will's email to tell Summer that if she could speak she would be perfect. Will sees it and suddenly realizes that that's what he really thinks even if he wouldn't say it. (Will never actually confronts this, either.) Anyway, Will is fine to put up with all of Cully's ableism and general shittiness, but he draws the line when Cully brags about getting naked with Summer (the truth, but omitted she did it because Cully was dying of hypothermia and they needed to cuddle for life). Will ends the friendship over this. Very "don't talk about my girlfriend, but any other girl is fair game" vibes. And yet Summer urges him to be friends with Cully again because the boys have a history?? Gross.
- Summer's older sister, Violet, refuses to sign because she thinks it makes her look stupid. The younger sister sometimes signs and sometimes doesn't, even when Summer is around and practically begging for access to the conversation. The only family member who consistently signs is the mother. In my own experience it is fairly accurate for hearing family members to not sign, or sign on a very low level. It's odd to me that Violet won't even sign at home, when no one but family is around to see her "look stupid." The mom's fluency is also a bit of a surprise to me, since it's fairly rare for parents to know signs well. In reality, it would most likely be the little sister who would be most fluent and become the "official" interpreter between the family and the deaf family member. I guess it's nice the author shook things up a bit here? But it'd have been nice to flesh out the family characters a bit more.
- Lomer sometimes glosses (writes English words in Auslan order), sometimes translates (writes English sentences for Auslan dialog). It's inconsistent. Glossing is generally annoying to me, because it would be like writing any other language like Japanese in the wrong order. It wouldn't be so bad if it was Will glossing, but Summer glossing is kind of weird.
- Summer mentions her father (deceased) had learned Auslan from two deaf neighbors at age 5. Did he remember it for 15+ years so it would be handy when Summer was born? She later says that dad remained friends with the deaf boys for years, but there's no mention of the family taking any formal courses or dad needing to brush up on signs or anything. It's just a little too convenient and superficial.
- This one really bothers me: Summer's painting depicts a goshawk with its eyes reflecting human figures. In the left eye, the girl has no ears or mouth, and in the right eye, it's Summer's face (including ears and mouth). The boy is Will. So in other words, Will "completes" her. He gives her or is her ears and mouth. She literally paints him as a hearing savior. Barf. Tell me you're a hearing writer without telling me you're a hearing writer. I shared this scene in a Facebook group for international deaf people, and the consensus is that this is really gross, and although plenty of people in that group (including me) jokingly refer to partners/spouses as their "hearing ear person," we don't actually think they give us or are our ears or mouth. This is the scene that makes me wonder if Lomer ignored feedback from her deaf advisers.
Things that don't work for me at all:
- Summer is kind of silly, and not in a cute way. Like she doesn't know how the world works, and just wonders about other people's experiences and motivations constantly. She knows what whistling is, but wonders why Will is doing it. "It's not to communicate something. Is it?" Girl, if you know what whistling is, you know damm well it's either to get attention or to make music. Deaf people literally aren't this ignorant. Someone actually has to tell her that boys are humans and have feelings, too. Come on.
- Summer and Will see a whale and calf swim by. Will signs, "Whales under water. Just listen!" Then he slaps his forehead, embarrassed because he had meant it as a joke, but not a "deaf" joke. What was the joke supposed to be?? We don't get any context for this at all, and I'm just very confused by this.
- Hearing authors love having hearing non-signing characters unconsciously sign when they're emotional. Do second language learners do that with any other language? You take one German class and then when you get excited or angry you start muttering in German? Genuinely curious. Since this seems to be a staple in hearing authors' works.
- When it's dark outside, of course Will and Summer perfectly understand each other by signing into their hands. It's not like your tactile sense is very different from your visual sense, or that understanding tactile sign takes practice. No, you just do it, and understanding magically blossoms between you. It's linguistic osmosis. Yeesh! Another staple in works by hearing authors writing signing characters.
That's pretty much all I bring to the discussion. Don't like the story, don't like the characters. But it's not the worst deaf character I've seen.
April 13, 2018
A beautiful story. It was exciting to read a book set in Tasmania by somebody I've met! This is the first book of Kathryn's I've read, and I loved it.
The way Kathryn portrays Bruny Island and Hobart with their scents, scenes and wildlife is evocative and accurate. There's something special about reading a book set in your home town, and as I've lived in Hobart for many years and Bruny featured large in my life recently (my partner was working as a tour guide on the island), it was interesting to see it depicted skillfully in words. I found the thread about conserving the natural environment and wildlife convincing and uncontrived, and living here, I know how unique the creatures are and how vulnerable they can be.
I enjoyed the characters and their stories. It was fascinating to learn more about Auslan and the culture of deaf persons, and to realise that Auslan is a whole language – a minority language – with its own quirks and advantages. Funnily enough I learned the fingerspelling mentioned in the book (and provided at the end as an alphabet) at school in South Africa when I was about ten – we used it frequently to convey messages hidden from the teachers!
The most important message I took from the story was about inclusiveness and looking beyond stereotypes.
The way Kathryn portrays Bruny Island and Hobart with their scents, scenes and wildlife is evocative and accurate. There's something special about reading a book set in your home town, and as I've lived in Hobart for many years and Bruny featured large in my life recently (my partner was working as a tour guide on the island), it was interesting to see it depicted skillfully in words. I found the thread about conserving the natural environment and wildlife convincing and uncontrived, and living here, I know how unique the creatures are and how vulnerable they can be.
I enjoyed the characters and their stories. It was fascinating to learn more about Auslan and the culture of deaf persons, and to realise that Auslan is a whole language – a minority language – with its own quirks and advantages. Funnily enough I learned the fingerspelling mentioned in the book (and provided at the end as an alphabet) at school in South Africa when I was about ten – we used it frequently to convey messages hidden from the teachers!
The most important message I took from the story was about inclusiveness and looking beyond stereotypes.
May 22, 2025
Overall this book was pretty good!
Fantastic to see a Deaf Lit book that’s not only Australian but Tassie! Will was an adorable character, so was (most) of Summer’s family. Summer was also great.
There are probably more dislikes about this book though. First of all, really found that whole Jessica sailor narrative thing ridiculous. Like, it didn’t need it.
Also thought it was incredibly convenient that the one email Will did open explained everything by his Mum, lol.
Summer’s older sister confused me. There’s no way Summer’s gorgeous Mum would let her daughter speak to her other daughter that way? Like genuinely made no sense.
The pacing of this book was kinda weird. I went into it thinking that the real plot was Summer/Will meeting, but it was actually a sailing trip?
It was also so weird the couple of chapters with Miriam?
I saw Summer’s Mum and Will’s Dad getting together from a mile away. I don’t know how I feel about it.
Cully pissed me off.
Fantastic to see a Deaf Lit book that’s not only Australian but Tassie! Will was an adorable character, so was (most) of Summer’s family. Summer was also great.
There are probably more dislikes about this book though. First of all, really found that whole Jessica sailor narrative thing ridiculous. Like, it didn’t need it.
Also thought it was incredibly convenient that the one email Will did open explained everything by his Mum, lol.
Summer’s older sister confused me. There’s no way Summer’s gorgeous Mum would let her daughter speak to her other daughter that way? Like genuinely made no sense.
The pacing of this book was kinda weird. I went into it thinking that the real plot was Summer/Will meeting, but it was actually a sailing trip?
It was also so weird the couple of chapters with Miriam?
I saw Summer’s Mum and Will’s Dad getting together from a mile away. I don’t know how I feel about it.
Cully pissed me off.
August 14, 2019
The first time I read this, I was maybe 12? I really enjoyed it. I loved it so much, the setting, the writing, the characters, the romance.
Iv'e read it again at 15 and it's kinda lost its spark. I found it cheesy and typical and some characters were very stereotyped.
In conclusion, if your a tween, you will love this :)
If your not, your probably looking for something a bit more... sophisticated :)
Iv'e read it again at 15 and it's kinda lost its spark. I found it cheesy and typical and some characters were very stereotyped.
In conclusion, if your a tween, you will love this :)
If your not, your probably looking for something a bit more... sophisticated :)
October 14, 2018
Lovely book. Nothing too outstanding about it except its wonderful representation of deafness in Australia. I personally really related to Will about what it was like to learn Auslan as a second language to be able to communicate with someone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2018
Great book!
February 3, 2019
This book was so cute. I loved the message and the great characters it had. A nice read.
December 14, 2019
A story about friendship, love, discrimination and how far you would go to make someone feel worth it.
A pretty light read for me as I don't normally get into life but it depends on the person.
A pretty light read for me as I don't normally get into life but it depends on the person.
January 1, 2022
A good bit of teenage fiction - the main character as a deaf girl was an interesting twist on the usual teenage romance.
February 19, 2022
such a good book!
October 19, 2024
Beautifully written book, good representation for the deaf community.
August 15, 2025
A really nice story, and learning about the Deaf community and Auslan was an interesting element.
August 19, 2015
A simple refreshing contemporary novel that takes part at sea and on the coastal shores of Hobart Australia. This story sets itself apart and also adds itself to a great list of diverse YA novels coming out recently by introducing the reader to the concept of life without hearing and the use of sign language in the central plot and romance between our main characters Will and Summer.
The story is a clean and refreshingly simple one told from alternating chapters between our protagonists Will and Summer and the two strike up an unlikely online friendship over a mutual interest in Jessica Watson and her solo sailing voyage at only 16 years of age. Summer lives in Will’s old town – Kettering and feeling homesick after being away sailing with his dad for the past year, Will is excited to chat online with another teen who recently moved to his old home. Summer has never been sailing and is fascinated with the concept hoping someday she will have the opportunity to learn.
When Will’s dad gets a great job opportunity back near Kettering the two move back to Tasmania. Will and Summer’s new blossoming friendship meets its first hurdle when Will soon realises that Summer is deaf and has never mentioned it to him during all their correspondence. Feeling hurt and betrayed it takes awhile before they get past things and Will starts to understand that communication with someone who doesn’t hear is still possible and if anything much easier that he realised.
As their friendship grows he undertakes an AUSLAN course to learn sign language as his interest is piqued and the friendship slowly blurs the lines into romance as they spend more and more time with each other.
The characters are interesting though I found Will to be possibly a bit unrealistic – he was certainly very different and much more mature than any 15 year old boy I met when I was in high school. His best friend was much more in line with my memories of boys in high school in any case, perhaps I just didn’t meet the rights ones :)
The story culminates with the kids sailing around a nearby island without adult supervision and while there is a few bits added in to make things a bit more dramatic overall everything runs quite smoothly. In some ways you want more action but in others I like that this is a bit more realistic to normal life making this a really relatable book for teens.
The one thing that I really found frustrating was that there was no quotation marks when the characters were talking which is found slowed me down as it sometimes made it difficult to realise that someone was talking not just thinking something. Perhaps I’m just picky :)
Aside from this small grammatical/aesthetic issue I enjoyed this fresh simple love story and think this one will be make a great summer read!
The story is a clean and refreshingly simple one told from alternating chapters between our protagonists Will and Summer and the two strike up an unlikely online friendship over a mutual interest in Jessica Watson and her solo sailing voyage at only 16 years of age. Summer lives in Will’s old town – Kettering and feeling homesick after being away sailing with his dad for the past year, Will is excited to chat online with another teen who recently moved to his old home. Summer has never been sailing and is fascinated with the concept hoping someday she will have the opportunity to learn.
When Will’s dad gets a great job opportunity back near Kettering the two move back to Tasmania. Will and Summer’s new blossoming friendship meets its first hurdle when Will soon realises that Summer is deaf and has never mentioned it to him during all their correspondence. Feeling hurt and betrayed it takes awhile before they get past things and Will starts to understand that communication with someone who doesn’t hear is still possible and if anything much easier that he realised.
As their friendship grows he undertakes an AUSLAN course to learn sign language as his interest is piqued and the friendship slowly blurs the lines into romance as they spend more and more time with each other.
The characters are interesting though I found Will to be possibly a bit unrealistic – he was certainly very different and much more mature than any 15 year old boy I met when I was in high school. His best friend was much more in line with my memories of boys in high school in any case, perhaps I just didn’t meet the rights ones :)
The story culminates with the kids sailing around a nearby island without adult supervision and while there is a few bits added in to make things a bit more dramatic overall everything runs quite smoothly. In some ways you want more action but in others I like that this is a bit more realistic to normal life making this a really relatable book for teens.
The one thing that I really found frustrating was that there was no quotation marks when the characters were talking which is found slowed me down as it sometimes made it difficult to realise that someone was talking not just thinking something. Perhaps I’m just picky :)
Aside from this small grammatical/aesthetic issue I enjoyed this fresh simple love story and think this one will be make a great summer read!
September 30, 2016
I loved that this book took place is Tasmania and I really enjoyed the characters, but the writing felt a bit young to me.
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