On the Bright Side - Review

On the Bright Side

By: Anna Sortino

Publication: July 2, 2024 by Putnum

319 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Disability

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--A hopeful novel about love, disability, and the inevitability of change by the author of Give Me a Sign.

Ellie’s Deaf boarding school just shut down, forcing her to leave the place she considered home and return to her hearing family. Back in a mainstream school, Ellie quickly becomes the subject of hateful rumors. That’s when her guidance counselor pairs her with Jackson, a student who’s supposed to help her adjust. Can the boy who tries to say the right things, and gets it all wrong, be the lifeline Ellie needs?

Jackson has been avoiding his teammates ever since some numbness in his legs cost them an important soccer match. With his senior year off to a lonely start, he’s intrigued when he’s asked to help the new girl, initially thinking it will be a commendable move on his part. Little does he know Ellie will soon be the person he wants most by his side when the strange symptoms he’s experiencing amount to a life-changing diagnosis.

Exploring what it means to build community, Anna Sortino pens a story about the fear of the unknown and the beauty of the unexpected, all wrapped up in a poignant romance that will break your heart and put it back together again.

I didn't love Anna Sortino's Give Me a Sign. I took issue with her characters' general mindset. The evidence that Anna Sortino might suffer from the same mindset is that the characters in that book all generally agreed on the same things. So I wasn't sure if I wanted to pick up On the Bright Side. But I decided to give this one a try, and I'm glad that I did.

Ellie used to go to a deaf boarding school. But lack of funding has the school shutting down, and Ellie has to return to her hearing family and school. I finished this book two months before sitting down to write my review, and I know that I'm forgetting the intricacies of the relationship dynamic between Ellie and her family. I felt like fault lay on both sides. Ellie's parents didn't seem to put themselves in her shoes, and they didn't make the necessary adjustments to help her feel like part of the family. Ellie feels inferior to her sister, at least, she views her parents as seeing her as inferior. Mostly, it seemed that communication was needed between them that had nothing to do with hearing or the language that was being used. I felt bad for Ellie, but I also felt bad for her family.

Jackson has been hiding some numbness in his legs because he wasn't sure what was happening. His dad is hard-core physical and always pushes him to go harder. Jackson probably could have talked to his parents, but he chose not to, fearing their response. Jackson has a fall during a critical soccer game, and his teammates give him a hard time over. And then Jackson's symptoms get more and more concerning. He eventually gets to the point where he can't hide what he's going through from his family any longer. And he finally receives a diagnosis. I felt bad for Jackson because the doctors were giving him the runaround. I, too, have felt like doctors were blowing off my concerns in different areas as no big deal when their explanations didn't seem to make sense. It's hard to push back against the ones who are supposed to know more about the human body than the average person. But I've learned through various family members and my own experiences that we have to advocate for ourselves, and if we're not happy with the response from the doctor, we need to get a second opinion. We only have one body to take the best care of we possibly can. Jackson, being a minor, wasn't sure about what the doctors were telling him, but he didn't know enough to push back. His character's particular struggle was more emotional when learning that Anna Sortino went through a very similar experience and received the same diagnosis as Jackson. 

I liked Ellie and Jackson's relationship. Ellie was a little harsh with him initially because she wasn't sure he was genuine. I like how Jackson was open to learning to sign to better communicate with Ellie. I didn't feel Ellie was as judgemental or pushy about forcing him to do so as the characters Anna Sortino wrote in Give Me a Sign. These two used text and other methods to communicate. Jackson was willing to learn, but Ellie allowed him to learn organically and didn't expect him to pick up an entire language within a ridiculous period, especially given the physical challenges he was dealing with. 

I was happy that Ellie found a family in her friends and a community that would support her. They helped her have a productive and needed conversation with her parents, which helped rebuild some of the damage their toxic relationship patterns were causing. But I also felt like Ellie was harsh with her family here. It's hard to say without being in the situation myself. Ellie does say there was a lack of effort on both parts but that she wasn't inclined to change it. Well, you can't expect someone else to do something you're not willing to do yourself. If you want your parents or anyone, to make an effort for you, you have to be willing to make an effort for them.

Overall, I enjoyed On the Bright Side more than Anna Sortino's previous book, Give Me a Sign. Ellie was still a little bit of a struggle for me. She still had a victim mindset in a lot of ways, and her relationship with her parents was just as much her fault as her parents. They certainly shouldn't be let off the hook. Jackson was the redeeming factor. He had his physical life-altering events going on, which I think allowed Ellie not to push him unrealistically on learning sign language. He was the bright side for me in this book. On the Bright Side gets 4 Stars. Have you read On the Bright Side? What did you think? Let me know!