The Sign for Home

A Novel

Blair Fell

• Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9781982175979
• Print ISBN:
  9781982175962

Longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

When a young DeafBlind man learns the girl he thought was lost forever might still be out there, he embarks on a life-changing journey to find her—and his freedom.

Arlo Dilly is young, handsome, and eager to meet the right girl. He also happens to be DeafBlind, a Jehovah’s Witness, and under the strict guardianship of his controlling uncle. His chances of finding someone to love seem slim to none.

And yet, it happened once before: many years ago, at a boarding school for the Deaf, Arlo met the love of his life—a mysterious girl with onyx eyes and beautifully expressive hands which told him the most amazing stories. But tragedy struck, and their love was lost forever.

Or so Arlo thought.

After years trying to heal his broken heart, Arlo is assigned a college writing assignment which unlocks buried memories of his past. Soon he wonders if the hearing people he was supposed to trust have been lying to him all along, and if his lost love might be found again.

No longer willing to accept what others tell him, Arlo convinces a small band of misfit friends to set off on a journey to learn the truth. After all, who better to bring on this quest than his gay interpreter and wildly inappropriate Belgian best friend? Despite the many forces working against him, Arlo will stop at nothing to find the girl who got away and experience all of life’s joyful possibilities.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Chapter 1: Sniff
• Chapter 2: The Terp
• Chapter 3: What’s It Like?
• Chapter 4: The Meeting
• Chapter 5: Leaving Home
• Chapter 6: First Day of Class
• Chapter 7: Banisters and Baloney
• Chapter 8: Professor Lavinia Bahr
• Chapter 9: Martin and Big Head Lawrence
• Chapter 10: Hanne
• Chapter 11: What Is the Grass?
• Chapter 12: Ghost Child
• Chapter 13: Lunchtime Epiphanies
• Chapter 14: Hanne Meets Arlo
• Chapter 15: Crazy Charles
• Chapter 16: Essay Crit
• Chapter 17: The One Who Stays Behind
• Chapter 18: The Great Tribulation
• Chapter 19: My Secrets/Your Secrets
• Chapter 20: Email to Hanne
• Chapter 21: The First Time
• Chapter 22: The Giveback
• Chapter 23: Romeo and Juliet
• Chapter 24: Rainstorm
• Chapter 25: Tabitha
• Chapter 26: Rainstorm (Part 2)
• Chapter 27: Protactile
• Chapter 28: The Argument
• Chapter 29: Top Secret
• Chapter 30: Truth-Telling
• Chapter 31: The Day That Changed Everything
• Chapter 32: The Facebook Profile
• Chapter 33: Reunion
• Chapter 34: Alone Again
• Chapter 35: Savior Syndrome
• Chapter 36: The Field Trip
• Chapter 37: New Plan
• Chapter 38: Termination
• Chapter 39: Confrontation
• Chapter 40: The Unexpected Visitor
• Chapter 41: Gone Gone Gone
• Chapter 42: Conspirators
• Chapter 43: Travel Training for an Escape
• Chapter 44: Chasing Arlo
• Chapter 45: Grand Central
• Chapter 46: Lost and Found
• Chapter 47: The Rescuers
• Chapter 48: Nursing Home
• Chapter 49: In Your Eyes
• Chapter 50: Cultural Mediation
• Chapter 51: Aftermath
• Chapter 52: Outlaws
• Chapter 53: What Happened Next
• Epilogue: Story Finish
• Acknowledgments
• Reading Group Guide
• About the Author
• Copyright