Show Me a Sign

By Susan Miura

Description:

All he wanted was to share a pizza with the coolest girl he'd ever met, until she got kidnapped. Seventeen-year-old Nathan Boliva is under investigation by the FBI for a kidnapping he didn't commit. Deaf and beautiful Haylie Summers agreed to go out with him, then disappeared before their first date. When the Feds discover a text was sent from Nathan's cell phone, asking Haylie to meet him behind her garage, Nathan becomes a prime suspect. Tied and blindfolded, Haylie struggles to grasp Nathan's role in her captivity. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would kidnap her. Then again, if he didn't, who is holding her hostage, and why? Desperate to solve the crime and rescue Haylie, Nathan and his best friend, Alec, set out at midnight to gather intel...and end up with far more than they bargained for. An action-packed plunge into intrigue and danger. 'A twisty mystery with an unexpected villain and a feisty deaf heroine.'-PENNY BLUBAUGH, Author of Blood and Flowers. 'Love and friendship break the sound barrier in this suspenseful, fast-paced story.'-JOANN KORT, Deaf Educator. 'A well-crafted romantic thriller.'-AMY ALESSIO, teen librarian, reviewer for The Book Report, author of the Alana O'Neill Mysteries. 'Guys will identify with Nathan and Alec; girls will be drawn to Haylie for her guts and smarts. Plenty of action will keep everyone flipping pages to the end.'-MAX ELLIOT ANDERSON, author of middle-grade action-adventures and mysteries.

Book Takeaway:

I hope readers will find Show Me a Sign to provide clean teen entertainment, and come away understanding it’s subtle message that God is always with us, even when we’re in a dark place and can’t feel his presence. I also hope my heroine, Haylie, will show them that people with hearing and other disabilities are just people, with the same strengths and weaknesses, fears, insecurities, desires, and dreams as anyone else.

Why the author wrote this book:

I knew someone who was falsely accused of a crime, and I thought it would make a great premise for a young adult novel. My husband, who is a police sergeant, was a valuable asset for the police scenes and dialogue. My motivation for making Haylie deaf came from the school near my house, which is attended by deaf and hearing kids, all of whom learn sign language. Our world is composed of all kinds of people with various abilities and disabilities, and it felt right to feature a strong character who happened to be deaf. My other main character, Nathan, is Peruvian, which is just a by-product of me being part of a large, multicultural family.