Despite the serious subject matter of this book I found it a fun read. 
 I bought the book ages ago and kept meaning to read it but for some reason never did. I think I enjoyed it so much because the protagonist of this book is male, and I read so, so many books with female leads it's good to hear another voice. 
 I have no experience with learning sign language, despite being relatively heavily involved with the world of disability...so I can't say whether Jake's experiences are realistic. Nevertheless I found it very interesting, and I hope that it would appeal to both male and female teens. 
 The author also leaves a note at the end of this book explaining why she wrote it. Her experiences are very different to Jake's, but I found it cool knowing what inspired this book.