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El Deafo
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Middle Grade & Children's (2014)Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in school — in the hallway... in the teacher's lounge... in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?
This funny perceptive graphic novel memoir about growing up hearing impaired is also an unforgettable book about growing up, and all the super and super embarrassing moments along the way.
Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in school — in the hallway... in the teacher's lounge... in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?
This funny perceptive graphic novel memoir about growing up hearing impaired is also an unforgettable book about growing up, and all the super and super embarrassing moments along the way.
233 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
About the author
Cece Bell
29 books787 followersI'm an author and an illustrator, and sadly not a jazz pianist. I live in an old church in the hills of Virginia with my husband, author Tom Angleberger. I work right next door in a new-ish barn. I've written and illustrated a bunch of books for kids and was lucky enough to get a Geisel Honor for one of 'em. If you want to know more about my hearing loss or my childhood (or both), check out my first graphic novel, El Deafo. It's only slightly fictionalized, honest! I'm at www.cecebell.com if you want to see more weird stuff.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 7,998 reviews
February 12, 2015
Middle grade/young adult graphic novel. In comic book form, Cece Bell tells the story of a young girl (rabbit?) growing up with a severe hearing impairment. She does a great job tackling the subject with humor and pathos, letting us see the world through the narrator's eyes (and hear through her super Phonic Ear). Along the way, we meet pushy friends, clueless peers, helpful teachers, not-so-helpful siblings, and a whole cast of other characters that any kid can relate to. A great novel for raising awareness and promoting understanding, because not everyone hears the world the same way, whether we have a super-powerful Phonic Ear or not!
June 27, 2018
My heart is so happy. This was absolutely adorable. And so informative!
July 1, 2016
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why I wanted to read this book.
I’m not going to show any other picture from the book because I’d end up highlighting everything and you’d kill me in the process.
So I will post nothing. Read the book yourself.
This is not the first book about deaf people I’ve read but I always got the impression authors have deafness kind of “idealized”. The picture someone has when thinking about deaf people is the person who hears nothing and says nothing and communicates via sign language.
Well, that person may exist. But this stereotype is becoming less and less common nowadays. I live in a country where the social security provides for your loss of hearing. There is a screening test once the child is born, and if an alteration is detected, it has to be studied further. If you happen to have an alteration, several possibilities are offered. If a kid needs a hearing aid, he will have one. If a kid needs a cochlear implant, he will have at least one. Because resources are limited, giving a kid two cochlear implants, one for each ear, means one kid will get none. This was less of a problem a while ago, when people distrusted cochlear implants with all their being. It was an abomination for parents to constent their kids to be operated for that. Close relatives disapproved my parents' decision. Fortunately, things are changing, and society is progressing and assimilating that nowadays they are the best solution for severe to total deafness. Until they manage to reconstruct the inner ear with stem cells. Future is coming! Meanwhile, they are not cheap, and the system is not perfect, but having one cochlear implant for free is more than most of children can ask for.
So I am grateful to have two cochlear implants.
This book is the story of my life. Mostly.
Cece is 4 years old when she has meningitis and that would change her life forever since. She was “lucky” because she already had a solid basis in the means of communication, that is to say, language. I was 2 years and a half when I had bacterial meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae, which was a fucking trick of fate because the vaccine came out the following year, and since then on that bacteria stopped being the principal cause of meningitis in kids. I got into a disseminated intravascular coagulation and thanks to some miracle and 2 platelets bags I lived to tell the tale. Consequences could have been much worse so I can’t complain that the only sequel I had was deafness. First it was severe, then it was profound, and finally it was total. Medical term: cophosis.
No, I do not remember that episode. I do remember that time when I shallowed a box full of Hibitane and I needed to have my stomach pumped. I know, I know. I'm an ungrateful bitch. But those things were tasty. Moral of the story: make sure pills are not accessible to children. They are clever little monsters. I'm talking from my very own experience.
I was a way too young, so I lost every achievement in the communication area I had managed to learn. That is to say, at 3 years old I had forgotten every word I had in my record. Meaning, I had to begin again from scratch. A great delay in comparison to the kids of my own age.
At first I had hearing aids. The very same one Cece wears, the cordless ones. I see them now and are covered in ear wax. Gross. I guess than in a million years they will get my DNA and create a little Sheziss out of it.
But right then I HATED those thingies. They made a squeal I couldn’t stand, and they were more time out of my ear than inside of it. My parents pursued me around the house to drive them into my ears more often than not.
But then my surgery and my first cochlear implant came. I was 3 years old in the hospital. And… there was light. Yes, it was uncomfortable to wear now that I think about it, but when you hear properly for the first time in a long time and it doesn’t hurt you, you simply love it to pieces. I look at it now and say “You cute little box”.
My mother bought me lots of undershirts and stitched up a little bag with a little button below my right arm to place the little box. In every one of them. Yes, it had a long cord from the little box to my ear. Exactly like Cece’s thingies. With the exception that there was nothing inside my ear, just a magnet on my skull to connect to the inner ear and stimulate the cells with electrical waves.
It was freedom but it had limitations. I couldn’t get completely involved in PE or games in the schoolyard because the box could fall if I did handstands or the cord could be tangled or the magnet on my skull could fall from brusque movements. And of course no water. Electroshocked Sheziss is not fun, IMO. Well, I'm being dramatic, I have no idea if I'd be electroshocked, but it surely would have stopped being fun 5 minutes after when the machine wouldn't work. So, no sound in the swimming pool. The battery only lasted one day and a half (the AAA batteries) so every morning I had to change it. But the worst was the speech therapy. It was a mess of sounds with no sense at all. I had to learn how to interpret them. Whereas kids my own age played football after school, I had classes. To hear. To understand.
And then the first box-less and cord-less cochlear implant came. I can’t find it amongst my little machines kept in the wardrobe, so you will have to imagine it the way I have just described it. It was so small I couldn’t believe I would only have to wear the part that is placed on my ear. The batteries are much smaller, cell batteries, and last 3-4 days tops.
But they last longer on me because when sleeping, when having a shower, when reading, when studying… I switch them off. In fact, I only have them on in the university and while watching movies and being with the family. The rest of the time I’m in silence. Blessed silence.
But it’s a dirty trick when you are in the middle of something interesting or important and suddenly… The battery is dead. Not funny at all.
It was about time I got a smaller cochlear implant, because I was going to start needing a bra and the undershirts were going to become a nuisance rather than a help.
That’s when I had my second surgery on my other ear. And that meant that that speech therapy I had gotten rid of years before had to come back. Crap. But it also meant I could hear from both sides, although not with the same quality and still not locating the source of the sound. I still favor my “old” ear, simply because the sounds are much clearer and neat. The sooner you begin, the better you will hear. As simple as that.
Some years later I had a more modern cochlear implant, so we changed the one from the left ear to the right ear, and the new one to the left ear.
This year I was provided with the newest brands and they have lots of applications, like background noises muting and "hooking" to the cinema's sound or the computer.
A funny detail: if I try to put one of my little machines on the other side, I hear nothing. Each cochlear implant is made for a certain ear, it doesn’t work on the other. The audiologist just programs the cochlear implant with my “map” so it can function with the specific side. Otherwise, they are useless. Another funny detail, my “old” cochlear implant (the inner part) is analog, whereas my “new” one is digital. Like watches.
I'm a cyborg! Beware!
But it’s a pain when one of them breaks. It meant sending the cochlear implant to whoever repairs it and trying to manage with only one or using one of my older versions I keep in my wardrobe. Thank God now the company lends you a similar one with your “map” to substitute yours until it comes back to you.
About the “Phonic Ear” Cece takes to school for teachers to wear in order to hear them, it’s totally different in my case. I had a Phonic Ear but it’s called FM or Frecuencia Modulada here (=Modulated Frequency) but it's not a different machine, just a little object I add to my own cochlear implants. It works like a radio or a walkie-talkie, the speaker talks and the waves reach the cochlear implants. How do I hear it? I hear it as if the voices were inside my head.
These schizophrenic symptoms were truly annoying at school. Here is where I disagree with Cece. The static was terrible and the voice resonated like in a cave. I refused to wear it and as I sat on the first row and paid attention, I survived that way with no problem at all.
But then university came and I decided that in a room with more than 250 people there was no way I could get by the way I had been for years. So I requested a FM and when it was given to me… it was incredible. As I said, technology moves fast, and this new FM was the utter proof of it. I heard the teacher’s voice inside my head… and with almost no static.
The only snag? I could not hear anything from my mates. The FM only allows me to hear the voices it catches, and it cancels the rest. It means that if a friend sitting next to me wants to mumble something in my ear, I would not hear it. It was difficult for my mates to get it at first, because they were sitting right next to me! But it finally sank in and we got along very nicely writing their comments down instead of using the vocal cords.
The advantage? The teacher could move around the class, and I would hear him the same way no matter what. Sometimes they don’t notice they are wearing it and leave the class and I keep hearing them and I have to pursue them in the corridors so I get have it back. Sometimes it’s not me, but one of my mates, the one who pursues that teacher. My FM is not as powerful as Cece’s. It’s a simpler machine but also less flashy, with a reach of 45m tops. When I had to choose between the showy but powerful FM and the simpler but less powerful one, I chose the second one. Mostly because it’s easier to convince the teacher to wear it when it’s not a black brick hanging from your neck. And also because 45m is more than enough in my case. So, why the fuss?
Ah, that way I've bonded with teachers very nicely. Sometimes conversations begin like this:
Me: “Hello, I’m…”
Teacher: “Can you speak louder? I’m a little deaf.”
Me: “Yes, me too.”
I'm not a simple number. When we are kids we want to be like everyone else but when we grow up we want to be special an different. Needless to say, I didn't have to make an effort to stand out, but I don't want my deafness to be the only thing that describes me. People say I'm the curly and tall head, so I guess I do stand out in other ways, too. Thank God.
Sometimes I hear inappropriate comments from my teachers when they speak with someone else while students are finding a seat just before the class starts. Once I heard “This deaf-mute girl gave this to me” and I felt like going down from my place and tell him “I think you must be the deaf one here because I’m definitely not mute” but I didn’t. Then.
It’s a urban legend that refuses to die: deaf people are mute. And this is the most offensive statement of them all. For me, at least.
Other people feel okay about being called “deaf-mute”, and I respect that.
I’m sorry, I’m not amongst them.
I am called theinsulting obsolete term “sordomuda” (deaf-mute) on a regular basis and most of the times I didn’t bring myself to care to correct that affirmation. It was inertia, I got tired and was uncertain about explaining the same thing once and again, above all when the comment was made by a nasty person.
But my patience is running short, whereas my self-esteem is running wild and it doesn’t allow me to accept this behavior anymore. So now I look at them in the eye and say with a giant smile on my face like the Cheshire Cat: “I’m not mute because I talk” and sometimes I say “You had no idea I was mute until I told you I was deaf.”
Oh oh.
And that’s when they are dumbstruck and when they finally manage to react they say they are sorry. And I feel sorry, too, for being rude, yes, but also because they simply do not realize how they use their words. I am willing to explain everything about me but I will not accept the term “sordomuda” as well as homosexuals don’t accept being called “faggots”. I hope you understand.
I don't have a problem answering any question people may have but I don't like people shamelessly staring at me as if I were an animal in the zoo. This happened to me once in the bus. I had my hair up in a ponytail and there was a boy my age looking at me. I could see him from the corner of my eye and he stayed that way the WHOLE trip. At last I got sick of it so I stared at him directly in the eye with an über serious face. That's when he FINALLY looked elsewhere. Manners don't stop existing even when that person is deaf, you know? Just in case.
I told this to some family and they told me that maybe he thought I was pretty or something. Well, I will always have the doubt. I know, I know, schizophrenic symptoms, but whatever, I prefer wearing my hair long and loose and if the issue is raised, I tell them. Or not at all.
Cece has lots of problems making friends. It’s funny because I didn’t have those problems. The typical stupid arguments girls have, yes, but not the “treating me as the deaf idiot” problem. I had BFFs all the time, the problem came when I was 12 and girls stopped playing with dolls and got more interested in gathering in big groups and talk and talk and taaaaaaaalk. It was so boring! And I felt so alone! I got lost in the conversation and I had nothing to contribute to them. The bigger the group, the worse for me. Above all when they were talking about supposedly “grown-up” things like boys and makeup and the like. So games were pushed aside. And I felt pushed aside, too.
Thank God that the following year I had another BFF and we got along very nicely the rest of high school. College-preparatory, however, meant focusing on getting the best marks possible, so I didn’t have to make an effort to make friends. Although I met a girl with whom I still talk on a regular basis and agree to meet now and then. She’s the only friendship that has survived from my teen years. And that’s fine because she’s also the one who deserves it the most.
Well, I have to mention I've always been an independent and introvert person. I slept in my own bed much earlier than my older brother did. He had to draw attention constantly and have company when he played, whereas I was in my little corner with my Schleich horses or my Barbies or my Bratz (OMG I wish I had had those Monster High then! I envy being a kid now...).
Unlike Cece, the real challenge were the adults. Those are the ones who talked to me as if I were an idiot. I guess they thought that exaggerating their lip movements and speaking much louder was the best way to help me. They don’t exactly ask me if I know sign language, but they want to know if I read lips. And yes, it’s a rusted ability I have, because I don’t use it very often, unless I have my cochlear implants off, but it’s not necessary for me if the circumstances are favorable. What’s important to me is seeing the face as a whole, and having the best vocalization and quality of voice possible and the less surrounding noise possible. The volume, strangely enough, is the less important detail, because as Cece says, it only makes unintelligible sounds louder, not more intelligible.
I never learnt sign language (which not universal BTW, so do not think than learning the American one will enable you to communicate with a French deaf person) and I was never taught to read lips because I never went to a school specifically for deaf people, but to one of integration. Living in a world full of people who hear has not exactly been a bed of roses, but it had to be done.
But it can be funny, too. When my little brother teases me I switch my prothesis off and tell him to speak louder please because I can't hear him. He is so cute when he makes that AYFKM face I can't help myself. Or when I sing off key on purpose and they tell me to stop because I'm terrible and that's when I excuse myself “Sorry, I have a bad hearing”. Or when there is a big noise and I say “OMG no! I've gone deaf! This is the end of the world! What are we going to do?”. About movies: "In a zombie apocalypses, I'd be the first one to die, as I would not hear them coming!". And my favorite, I yet have to find one that beats it: when someone complains about the noisy neighbors, "See? Sometimes you wanna be me! Take that!". I love black humor and I love it when I'm the only one who can make jokes about it. Because if you do it, I'll kill you.
Of course I'm kidding.
Maybe.
Cece has it hard to read lips but then not all deaf people have that ability. Some hearing people do have it, too, but not all of them. Of course you can practice to improve it. On the other hand, the Spanish is an almost phonetically perfect language. It’s much easier to read lips when the language is exactly written the way it’s pronounced. English sucks in that sense, unfortunately.
About movies and phone conversations? They are difficult. Not only because you can’t see the other person’s face, which by itself is important, but also because of the quality of the sound. Cochlear implants are adapted to the human voice, but not so much to the electronic voice. I understand movies just fine in the theatre, where the sound is the best quality you can find. Even though the dubbing means the lip movement does not agree with the words you hear, I manage. And yes, I love the original versions with subtitles, I always add them while watching movies at home and even the regular TV as often as possible (even though I prefer reading, so TV is pushed aside). However, I rarely use the mobile phone, I prefer communicating via Whatsapp, and if someone calls me, I know he’s a stranger. Because everybody knows I simply DO NOT answer the phone. Additional stress only when necessary, emergencies and the like, thank you very much.
All in all, this is the most real and truer book about deafness I've read in a long while.
And now, the big question. What is the aspect I dislike the most? Well, there is a tendency of portraying deafness in books as something "different", but in an almost mystical way. Although I can understand this POV I also am a little upset when I read books like those. I've always considered deafness a disability, just because it has disabled me in many ways. Above all when I'm surrounded by hearing people. I'm the girl who is last at realizing something has just happened, and that something can be important or interesting or fun or bad for you. I'm the girl who misses the good chances and can't avoid the bad ones. I'm the girl who is left behind and forgotten and when they notice it they tell me what happened in two words and I have to say "Thank you" when I want to say "I guessed as much with the parts I caught, tell me the complete version". I'm the girl who is schizophrenic about everything and asks everything every time because I precisely don't want to miss out those (un)important things that can change everything. And believe me, I've missed out lots of things. And somebody can think it's because I don't want to listen but the thing is, listening is an ACTIVE action from me, it doesn't come by osmosis like everybody else.
It's tiring to be listening 24/7.
Like Cece, I need to wear glasses now. Things are very blurred but I have been resisting for years now because I don’t want to wear ANOTHER prothesis on my ears. But hey, I surely will see life with a brighter light, right?
BTW, “El Deafo” is sort of “El Zorro”, right? But it should be “La Deafo” because Cece is a girl, shouldn't it?
I wish this book was translated to my language. I know lots of people who would enjoy this and maybe be helped by it.
I’m not going to show any other picture from the book because I’d end up highlighting everything and you’d kill me in the process.
So I will post nothing. Read the book yourself.
This is not the first book about deaf people I’ve read but I always got the impression authors have deafness kind of “idealized”. The picture someone has when thinking about deaf people is the person who hears nothing and says nothing and communicates via sign language.
Well, that person may exist. But this stereotype is becoming less and less common nowadays. I live in a country where the social security provides for your loss of hearing. There is a screening test once the child is born, and if an alteration is detected, it has to be studied further. If you happen to have an alteration, several possibilities are offered. If a kid needs a hearing aid, he will have one. If a kid needs a cochlear implant, he will have at least one. Because resources are limited, giving a kid two cochlear implants, one for each ear, means one kid will get none. This was less of a problem a while ago, when people distrusted cochlear implants with all their being. It was an abomination for parents to constent their kids to be operated for that. Close relatives disapproved my parents' decision. Fortunately, things are changing, and society is progressing and assimilating that nowadays they are the best solution for severe to total deafness. Until they manage to reconstruct the inner ear with stem cells. Future is coming! Meanwhile, they are not cheap, and the system is not perfect, but having one cochlear implant for free is more than most of children can ask for.
So I am grateful to have two cochlear implants.
This book is the story of my life. Mostly.
Cece is 4 years old when she has meningitis and that would change her life forever since. She was “lucky” because she already had a solid basis in the means of communication, that is to say, language. I was 2 years and a half when I had bacterial meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae, which was a fucking trick of fate because the vaccine came out the following year, and since then on that bacteria stopped being the principal cause of meningitis in kids. I got into a disseminated intravascular coagulation and thanks to some miracle and 2 platelets bags I lived to tell the tale. Consequences could have been much worse so I can’t complain that the only sequel I had was deafness. First it was severe, then it was profound, and finally it was total. Medical term: cophosis.
No, I do not remember that episode. I do remember that time when I shallowed a box full of Hibitane and I needed to have my stomach pumped. I know, I know. I'm an ungrateful bitch. But those things were tasty. Moral of the story: make sure pills are not accessible to children. They are clever little monsters. I'm talking from my very own experience.
I was a way too young, so I lost every achievement in the communication area I had managed to learn. That is to say, at 3 years old I had forgotten every word I had in my record. Meaning, I had to begin again from scratch. A great delay in comparison to the kids of my own age.
At first I had hearing aids. The very same one Cece wears, the cordless ones. I see them now and are covered in ear wax. Gross. I guess than in a million years they will get my DNA and create a little Sheziss out of it.
But right then I HATED those thingies. They made a squeal I couldn’t stand, and they were more time out of my ear than inside of it. My parents pursued me around the house to drive them into my ears more often than not.
But then my surgery and my first cochlear implant came. I was 3 years old in the hospital. And… there was light. Yes, it was uncomfortable to wear now that I think about it, but when you hear properly for the first time in a long time and it doesn’t hurt you, you simply love it to pieces. I look at it now and say “You cute little box”.
My mother bought me lots of undershirts and stitched up a little bag with a little button below my right arm to place the little box. In every one of them. Yes, it had a long cord from the little box to my ear. Exactly like Cece’s thingies. With the exception that there was nothing inside my ear, just a magnet on my skull to connect to the inner ear and stimulate the cells with electrical waves.
It was freedom but it had limitations. I couldn’t get completely involved in PE or games in the schoolyard because the box could fall if I did handstands or the cord could be tangled or the magnet on my skull could fall from brusque movements. And of course no water. Electroshocked Sheziss is not fun, IMO. Well, I'm being dramatic, I have no idea if I'd be electroshocked, but it surely would have stopped being fun 5 minutes after when the machine wouldn't work. So, no sound in the swimming pool. The battery only lasted one day and a half (the AAA batteries) so every morning I had to change it. But the worst was the speech therapy. It was a mess of sounds with no sense at all. I had to learn how to interpret them. Whereas kids my own age played football after school, I had classes. To hear. To understand.
And then the first box-less and cord-less cochlear implant came. I can’t find it amongst my little machines kept in the wardrobe, so you will have to imagine it the way I have just described it. It was so small I couldn’t believe I would only have to wear the part that is placed on my ear. The batteries are much smaller, cell batteries, and last 3-4 days tops.
But they last longer on me because when sleeping, when having a shower, when reading, when studying… I switch them off. In fact, I only have them on in the university and while watching movies and being with the family. The rest of the time I’m in silence. Blessed silence.
But it’s a dirty trick when you are in the middle of something interesting or important and suddenly… The battery is dead. Not funny at all.
It was about time I got a smaller cochlear implant, because I was going to start needing a bra and the undershirts were going to become a nuisance rather than a help.
That’s when I had my second surgery on my other ear. And that meant that that speech therapy I had gotten rid of years before had to come back. Crap. But it also meant I could hear from both sides, although not with the same quality and still not locating the source of the sound. I still favor my “old” ear, simply because the sounds are much clearer and neat. The sooner you begin, the better you will hear. As simple as that.
Some years later I had a more modern cochlear implant, so we changed the one from the left ear to the right ear, and the new one to the left ear.
This year I was provided with the newest brands and they have lots of applications, like background noises muting and "hooking" to the cinema's sound or the computer.
A funny detail: if I try to put one of my little machines on the other side, I hear nothing. Each cochlear implant is made for a certain ear, it doesn’t work on the other. The audiologist just programs the cochlear implant with my “map” so it can function with the specific side. Otherwise, they are useless. Another funny detail, my “old” cochlear implant (the inner part) is analog, whereas my “new” one is digital. Like watches.
I'm a cyborg! Beware!
But it’s a pain when one of them breaks. It meant sending the cochlear implant to whoever repairs it and trying to manage with only one or using one of my older versions I keep in my wardrobe. Thank God now the company lends you a similar one with your “map” to substitute yours until it comes back to you.
About the “Phonic Ear” Cece takes to school for teachers to wear in order to hear them, it’s totally different in my case. I had a Phonic Ear but it’s called FM or Frecuencia Modulada here (=Modulated Frequency) but it's not a different machine, just a little object I add to my own cochlear implants. It works like a radio or a walkie-talkie, the speaker talks and the waves reach the cochlear implants. How do I hear it? I hear it as if the voices were inside my head.
These schizophrenic symptoms were truly annoying at school. Here is where I disagree with Cece. The static was terrible and the voice resonated like in a cave. I refused to wear it and as I sat on the first row and paid attention, I survived that way with no problem at all.
But then university came and I decided that in a room with more than 250 people there was no way I could get by the way I had been for years. So I requested a FM and when it was given to me… it was incredible. As I said, technology moves fast, and this new FM was the utter proof of it. I heard the teacher’s voice inside my head… and with almost no static.
The only snag? I could not hear anything from my mates. The FM only allows me to hear the voices it catches, and it cancels the rest. It means that if a friend sitting next to me wants to mumble something in my ear, I would not hear it. It was difficult for my mates to get it at first, because they were sitting right next to me! But it finally sank in and we got along very nicely writing their comments down instead of using the vocal cords.
The advantage? The teacher could move around the class, and I would hear him the same way no matter what. Sometimes they don’t notice they are wearing it and leave the class and I keep hearing them and I have to pursue them in the corridors so I get have it back. Sometimes it’s not me, but one of my mates, the one who pursues that teacher. My FM is not as powerful as Cece’s. It’s a simpler machine but also less flashy, with a reach of 45m tops. When I had to choose between the showy but powerful FM and the simpler but less powerful one, I chose the second one. Mostly because it’s easier to convince the teacher to wear it when it’s not a black brick hanging from your neck. And also because 45m is more than enough in my case. So, why the fuss?
Ah, that way I've bonded with teachers very nicely. Sometimes conversations begin like this:
Me: “Hello, I’m…”
Teacher: “Can you speak louder? I’m a little deaf.”
Me: “Yes, me too.”
I'm not a simple number. When we are kids we want to be like everyone else but when we grow up we want to be special an different. Needless to say, I didn't have to make an effort to stand out, but I don't want my deafness to be the only thing that describes me. People say I'm the curly and tall head, so I guess I do stand out in other ways, too. Thank God.
Sometimes I hear inappropriate comments from my teachers when they speak with someone else while students are finding a seat just before the class starts. Once I heard “This deaf-mute girl gave this to me” and I felt like going down from my place and tell him “I think you must be the deaf one here because I’m definitely not mute” but I didn’t. Then.
It’s a urban legend that refuses to die: deaf people are mute. And this is the most offensive statement of them all. For me, at least.
Other people feel okay about being called “deaf-mute”, and I respect that.
I’m sorry, I’m not amongst them.
I am called the
But my patience is running short, whereas my self-esteem is running wild and it doesn’t allow me to accept this behavior anymore. So now I look at them in the eye and say with a giant smile on my face like the Cheshire Cat: “I’m not mute because I talk” and sometimes I say “You had no idea I was mute until I told you I was deaf.”
Oh oh.
And that’s when they are dumbstruck and when they finally manage to react they say they are sorry. And I feel sorry, too, for being rude, yes, but also because they simply do not realize how they use their words. I am willing to explain everything about me but I will not accept the term “sordomuda” as well as homosexuals don’t accept being called “faggots”. I hope you understand.
I don't have a problem answering any question people may have but I don't like people shamelessly staring at me as if I were an animal in the zoo. This happened to me once in the bus. I had my hair up in a ponytail and there was a boy my age looking at me. I could see him from the corner of my eye and he stayed that way the WHOLE trip. At last I got sick of it so I stared at him directly in the eye with an über serious face. That's when he FINALLY looked elsewhere. Manners don't stop existing even when that person is deaf, you know? Just in case.
I told this to some family and they told me that maybe he thought I was pretty or something. Well, I will always have the doubt. I know, I know, schizophrenic symptoms, but whatever, I prefer wearing my hair long and loose and if the issue is raised, I tell them. Or not at all.
Cece has lots of problems making friends. It’s funny because I didn’t have those problems. The typical stupid arguments girls have, yes, but not the “treating me as the deaf idiot” problem. I had BFFs all the time, the problem came when I was 12 and girls stopped playing with dolls and got more interested in gathering in big groups and talk and talk and taaaaaaaalk. It was so boring! And I felt so alone! I got lost in the conversation and I had nothing to contribute to them. The bigger the group, the worse for me. Above all when they were talking about supposedly “grown-up” things like boys and makeup and the like. So games were pushed aside. And I felt pushed aside, too.
Thank God that the following year I had another BFF and we got along very nicely the rest of high school. College-preparatory, however, meant focusing on getting the best marks possible, so I didn’t have to make an effort to make friends. Although I met a girl with whom I still talk on a regular basis and agree to meet now and then. She’s the only friendship that has survived from my teen years. And that’s fine because she’s also the one who deserves it the most.
Well, I have to mention I've always been an independent and introvert person. I slept in my own bed much earlier than my older brother did. He had to draw attention constantly and have company when he played, whereas I was in my little corner with my Schleich horses or my Barbies or my Bratz (OMG I wish I had had those Monster High then! I envy being a kid now...).
Unlike Cece, the real challenge were the adults. Those are the ones who talked to me as if I were an idiot. I guess they thought that exaggerating their lip movements and speaking much louder was the best way to help me. They don’t exactly ask me if I know sign language, but they want to know if I read lips. And yes, it’s a rusted ability I have, because I don’t use it very often, unless I have my cochlear implants off, but it’s not necessary for me if the circumstances are favorable. What’s important to me is seeing the face as a whole, and having the best vocalization and quality of voice possible and the less surrounding noise possible. The volume, strangely enough, is the less important detail, because as Cece says, it only makes unintelligible sounds louder, not more intelligible.
I never learnt sign language (which not universal BTW, so do not think than learning the American one will enable you to communicate with a French deaf person) and I was never taught to read lips because I never went to a school specifically for deaf people, but to one of integration. Living in a world full of people who hear has not exactly been a bed of roses, but it had to be done.
But it can be funny, too. When my little brother teases me I switch my prothesis off and tell him to speak louder please because I can't hear him. He is so cute when he makes that AYFKM face I can't help myself. Or when I sing off key on purpose and they tell me to stop because I'm terrible and that's when I excuse myself “Sorry, I have a bad hearing”. Or when there is a big noise and I say “OMG no! I've gone deaf! This is the end of the world! What are we going to do?”. About movies: "In a zombie apocalypses, I'd be the first one to die, as I would not hear them coming!". And my favorite, I yet have to find one that beats it: when someone complains about the noisy neighbors, "See? Sometimes you wanna be me! Take that!". I love black humor and I love it when I'm the only one who can make jokes about it. Because if you do it, I'll kill you.
Of course I'm kidding.
Maybe.
Cece has it hard to read lips but then not all deaf people have that ability. Some hearing people do have it, too, but not all of them. Of course you can practice to improve it. On the other hand, the Spanish is an almost phonetically perfect language. It’s much easier to read lips when the language is exactly written the way it’s pronounced. English sucks in that sense, unfortunately.
About movies and phone conversations? They are difficult. Not only because you can’t see the other person’s face, which by itself is important, but also because of the quality of the sound. Cochlear implants are adapted to the human voice, but not so much to the electronic voice. I understand movies just fine in the theatre, where the sound is the best quality you can find. Even though the dubbing means the lip movement does not agree with the words you hear, I manage. And yes, I love the original versions with subtitles, I always add them while watching movies at home and even the regular TV as often as possible (even though I prefer reading, so TV is pushed aside). However, I rarely use the mobile phone, I prefer communicating via Whatsapp, and if someone calls me, I know he’s a stranger. Because everybody knows I simply DO NOT answer the phone. Additional stress only when necessary, emergencies and the like, thank you very much.
All in all, this is the most real and truer book about deafness I've read in a long while.
And now, the big question. What is the aspect I dislike the most? Well, there is a tendency of portraying deafness in books as something "different", but in an almost mystical way. Although I can understand this POV I also am a little upset when I read books like those. I've always considered deafness a disability, just because it has disabled me in many ways. Above all when I'm surrounded by hearing people. I'm the girl who is last at realizing something has just happened, and that something can be important or interesting or fun or bad for you. I'm the girl who misses the good chances and can't avoid the bad ones. I'm the girl who is left behind and forgotten and when they notice it they tell me what happened in two words and I have to say "Thank you" when I want to say "I guessed as much with the parts I caught, tell me the complete version". I'm the girl who is schizophrenic about everything and asks everything every time because I precisely don't want to miss out those (un)important things that can change everything. And believe me, I've missed out lots of things. And somebody can think it's because I don't want to listen but the thing is, listening is an ACTIVE action from me, it doesn't come by osmosis like everybody else.
It's tiring to be listening 24/7.
Like Cece, I need to wear glasses now. Things are very blurred but I have been resisting for years now because I don’t want to wear ANOTHER prothesis on my ears. But hey, I surely will see life with a brighter light, right?
BTW, “El Deafo” is sort of “El Zorro”, right? But it should be “La Deafo” because Cece is a girl, shouldn't it?
I wish this book was translated to my language. I know lots of people who would enjoy this and maybe be helped by it.
April 27, 2016
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
This is the autobiographical story of Cece Bell and her experiences of going to school as the only deaf kid in the class. From her own insecurities to people treating her different, Cece found a coping mechanism in the form of “El Deafo” a superhero with nerves of steel who Cece imagined saying and doing everything she only wished she was brave enough to . . . .
This is a great book for youngsters. Aside from pointing out the obvious fact that people are people and shouldn’t be treated different just because they aren’t an exact copy of everyone else, it also did a great job of explaining (in kid terms) exactly how it might make the person who is being treated differently feel. It also takes you through all the other trials and tribulations a young’in might experience while navigating their way through elementary school. Things like embarrassing parents, making friends (and frenemies), first crushes, and most importantly . . .
My 3 Star rating is the lowest amongst my friends, which is totally legit since I’m easily the biggest jerk in the group of those who have read it. Since I am such a jerk, allow me to go off on a tangent. Such a switch from my regular reviews which always stay on topic, I know.
An open letter to schoolteachers who assign nightly reading as homework: I am a reader and I love this. My small human, however, is not. I have done my parental duty and made sure that said small person is capable of reading at a top-of-the-charts level, but unfortunately I cannot make him enjoy reading. You know what might? Reading a story about a little bunny who eavesdrops on her teachers. That stuff is HI.LAR.I.OUS. to a kid. Buuuuuuuuut, since the story was contained in a graphic novel and not a “real” (seriously?) book it doesn’t count toward the weekly reading requirement because it would be “cheating” since it has so many pictures and not as many words. Yeah. You know what you can do????
This is the autobiographical story of Cece Bell and her experiences of going to school as the only deaf kid in the class. From her own insecurities to people treating her different, Cece found a coping mechanism in the form of “El Deafo” a superhero with nerves of steel who Cece imagined saying and doing everything she only wished she was brave enough to . . . .
This is a great book for youngsters. Aside from pointing out the obvious fact that people are people and shouldn’t be treated different just because they aren’t an exact copy of everyone else, it also did a great job of explaining (in kid terms) exactly how it might make the person who is being treated differently feel. It also takes you through all the other trials and tribulations a young’in might experience while navigating their way through elementary school. Things like embarrassing parents, making friends (and frenemies), first crushes, and most importantly . . .
My 3 Star rating is the lowest amongst my friends, which is totally legit since I’m easily the biggest jerk in the group of those who have read it. Since I am such a jerk, allow me to go off on a tangent. Such a switch from my regular reviews which always stay on topic, I know.
An open letter to schoolteachers who assign nightly reading as homework: I am a reader and I love this. My small human, however, is not. I have done my parental duty and made sure that said small person is capable of reading at a top-of-the-charts level, but unfortunately I cannot make him enjoy reading. You know what might? Reading a story about a little bunny who eavesdrops on her teachers. That stuff is HI.LAR.I.OUS. to a kid. Buuuuuuuuut, since the story was contained in a graphic novel and not a “real” (seriously?) book it doesn’t count toward the weekly reading requirement because it would be “cheating” since it has so many pictures and not as many words. Yeah. You know what you can do????
February 21, 2024
At age four author Cece Bell fell ill with a disease that left her profoundly deaf. El Deafo is a sequential-art memoir telling of her life as a deaf child—from having to wear the "phonic ear" (a kind of bulky hearing aid) to navigating friendships with hearing children to struggling to accept being different. At 233 pages, El Deafo covers Bell’s school years from pre-school to fifth grade and depicts the various obstacles she encountered over these years with a lot of feeling. Because the story is about hearing, Bell made the creative decision to depict everyone as an animal with prominent ears: rabbits.
Luckily Bell's deafness didn't affect her ability to make friends, but it did pose problems in ways that hearing people might never think about. Because Bell wore the phonic ear only in school and was resistant to learning sign language, she relied a great deal on lip-reading. Lip-reading is, of course, inexact, so problems arose when she misinterpreted what others said. She also felt left out at sleep-overs when chatter occurred in the dark, and she had trouble enjoying many TV shows. By contrast, the phonic ear is an impressive device. Its reach was impressively far, affording her a kind of super-sonic hearing. After Bell told a friend this, she and her classmates took advantage of the phonic ear's abilities to have some fun at school unbeknownst to their teacher.
Unfortunately, Bell left out some information that really stands out in its absence. She never specified which disease stole her hearing. Later, when the subject of sign language came up, she didn't explain why she refused to learn it even though learning it could have improved her life. The mechanics of her deafness are also vague. In the afterword she explained that deafness can range in severity from mild to profound and labels hers as severe-to-profound, but in the memoir she’s seemingly able to speak smoothly to hearing people (which is everyone in the book). Because she didn’t become deaf until she was four, she obviously could speak, but I wondered whether severe hearing loss can lead to gradual loss of certain speaking skills, especially if hearing is lost early in life. I was disappointed Bell didn't use the afterword to explain any of these things.
Everything else about El Deafo is outstanding, though. As a book with a deaf main character, it's unusual, but where it really shines is in tone. So many graphic novels for children, memoirs and not, hyper focus on what's miserable about childhood, so it’s a welcome surprise to see that El Deafo doesn't do this. The memoir’s Newbery Honor is likely a recognition of this in addition to recognition of the disability theme. Bell fortunately didn’t contribute to the detrimental “inspiring disabled person” trope, but her memoir does send the message that deafness doesn’t always hold someone back—in academic (and career) success or in relationships.
Luckily Bell's deafness didn't affect her ability to make friends, but it did pose problems in ways that hearing people might never think about. Because Bell wore the phonic ear only in school and was resistant to learning sign language, she relied a great deal on lip-reading. Lip-reading is, of course, inexact, so problems arose when she misinterpreted what others said. She also felt left out at sleep-overs when chatter occurred in the dark, and she had trouble enjoying many TV shows. By contrast, the phonic ear is an impressive device. Its reach was impressively far, affording her a kind of super-sonic hearing. After Bell told a friend this, she and her classmates took advantage of the phonic ear's abilities to have some fun at school unbeknownst to their teacher.
Unfortunately, Bell left out some information that really stands out in its absence. She never specified which disease stole her hearing. Later, when the subject of sign language came up, she didn't explain why she refused to learn it even though learning it could have improved her life. The mechanics of her deafness are also vague. In the afterword she explained that deafness can range in severity from mild to profound and labels hers as severe-to-profound, but in the memoir she’s seemingly able to speak smoothly to hearing people (which is everyone in the book). Because she didn’t become deaf until she was four, she obviously could speak, but I wondered whether severe hearing loss can lead to gradual loss of certain speaking skills, especially if hearing is lost early in life. I was disappointed Bell didn't use the afterword to explain any of these things.
Everything else about El Deafo is outstanding, though. As a book with a deaf main character, it's unusual, but where it really shines is in tone. So many graphic novels for children, memoirs and not, hyper focus on what's miserable about childhood, so it’s a welcome surprise to see that El Deafo doesn't do this. The memoir’s Newbery Honor is likely a recognition of this in addition to recognition of the disability theme. Bell fortunately didn’t contribute to the detrimental “inspiring disabled person” trope, but her memoir does send the message that deafness doesn’t always hold someone back—in academic (and career) success or in relationships.
January 30, 2019
“Our differences are our superpowers.”
Starting and ending the day with a good read will never grow tired on me.
Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
This funny perceptive graphic novel memoir about growing up hearing impaired is also an unforgettable book about growing up, and all the super and super embarrassing moments along the way.
El Deafo is filled with all the upheavals and self-questioning of Cece Bell's early childhood, from experiencing crushes, pushy "best friends" and loneliness, to making many discoveries about lip-reading, including how it can create many awkward misread situations.
I'd highly recommended this for fans of Wonder by R.J. Palacio. This graphic novel was the perfect blend between funny, realistic, and enlightening to keep me flipping rapidly from page to page.
It's totally fascinating, and alarming at times to read through what the author went through in her school education, from dealing with "well-meaning" yet completely ignorant folks coming up and asking straight up rude questions to her face, to describing the many cues to notice to fully understand a conversation piece in real life or on TV.
And to include a few other noteworthy moments:
Wow. I feel utterly exposed by the above panel.
This brought to mind a similar exchange in one of my favorite episodes in Master of None season two.
Overall, I enjoyed this middle-grade graphic novel more than I expected with the months of waiting. So the anticipation to finally read El Deafo paid off quite well. Oh, and just throwing it out there: I'd love to see this story turned into a movie in the near future!
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying El Deafo, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with Ko-fi.com/bookspoils
Starting and ending the day with a good read will never grow tired on me.
Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
This funny perceptive graphic novel memoir about growing up hearing impaired is also an unforgettable book about growing up, and all the super and super embarrassing moments along the way.
El Deafo is filled with all the upheavals and self-questioning of Cece Bell's early childhood, from experiencing crushes, pushy "best friends" and loneliness, to making many discoveries about lip-reading, including how it can create many awkward misread situations.
I'd highly recommended this for fans of Wonder by R.J. Palacio. This graphic novel was the perfect blend between funny, realistic, and enlightening to keep me flipping rapidly from page to page.
It's totally fascinating, and alarming at times to read through what the author went through in her school education, from dealing with "well-meaning" yet completely ignorant folks coming up and asking straight up rude questions to her face, to describing the many cues to notice to fully understand a conversation piece in real life or on TV.
And to include a few other noteworthy moments:
Wow. I feel utterly exposed by the above panel.
This brought to mind a similar exchange in one of my favorite episodes in Master of None season two.
Overall, I enjoyed this middle-grade graphic novel more than I expected with the months of waiting. So the anticipation to finally read El Deafo paid off quite well. Oh, and just throwing it out there: I'd love to see this story turned into a movie in the near future!
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying El Deafo, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with Ko-fi.com/bookspoils
May 2, 2017
Amazing! Highly recommend to anyone. Great ownvoices deafness representation. Loved how childhood friendships were portrayed. I think any kid would get a lot out of this story (and adults too!), be it identifying with Cece's story, or relating to feelings of being different, or understanding their peers.
August 13, 2016
I am a fan of Raina Telgemeir's graphic novels based on her childhood. When she blurbed El Deafo, I knew I would enjoy it.
Cece loses her hearing at the age of four as a result of sudden illness. All at once, she has to relearn how to communicate with those around her, including family and friends. School turns out to be a bit tricky, since she can't read her teacher's lips at all times. Not to worry. Phonic Ear to the rescue!
Cece's Phonic Ear hearing aid gives her superpowers, but it also makes her feel alienated and different, not the easiest things to juggle while trying to make friends...and growing up. Sheesh.
I loved the illustrations, details and storyline. I was especially moved by her afterword about deaf culture and hearing impairment. Definitely worth reading whether you're a kid or an adult.
Cece loses her hearing at the age of four as a result of sudden illness. All at once, she has to relearn how to communicate with those around her, including family and friends. School turns out to be a bit tricky, since she can't read her teacher's lips at all times. Not to worry. Phonic Ear to the rescue!
Cece's Phonic Ear hearing aid gives her superpowers, but it also makes her feel alienated and different, not the easiest things to juggle while trying to make friends...and growing up. Sheesh.
I loved the illustrations, details and storyline. I was especially moved by her afterword about deaf culture and hearing impairment. Definitely worth reading whether you're a kid or an adult.
"I felt different, and in my mind being different wasn't a good thing. I secretly, and openly, believed that my deafness, in making me so different, was a disability. And I was ashamed."
"As I grew up, however, I made some positive discoveries about deafness and about myself. I'm no longer ashamed of being deaf, nor do I think of myself as someone with a disability...To the kid me, being deaf was a defining characteristic, one I tried to hide. Now it defines a smaller part of me, and I don't try to hide it-much. Today, I view my deafness as more of an occasional nuisance, and oddly enough, as a gift: I can turn off the sound of the world anytime I want, and retreat into peaceful silence."
June 8, 2017
3 I liked it stars
***Reading level 8-12 years but all ages can enjoy***
After a sudden illness strikes Cece when she is four, she finds herself hearing impaired after recovering. Her doctors have given her a device to wear which helps her hear, but it’s very noticeable being strapped to her chest and having cords in her ears. Over the years Cece faces many trials brought on by her impairment, from being made fun of, to friends wanting to be friends so they can have a “deaf friend”, to people shouting in her ears and blasting the radio and television. This is the autobiographical story of how Cece grew up with little hearing, and how she dreamed of using it as a superpower to help her.
A very funny look at growing up with a hearing impairment. As a autobiographical work, the author is able to tell her story of her issues as a young child with a sense of humor about her experiences and doesn’t add any hostility in her voice. While there are many issues Cece dealt with that were solely because of her hearing impairment, many issues were about friendships and dealing with bullies, what many tweens experience in general. The artwork was very vibrant, lots of bright colors and actions and more. The fact that all of the characters were bunnies was a bit strange, but it appeals to a younger age group that this book is geared toward.
This book also promotes awareness and understanding for people with disabilities, mostly it points out that just because Cece cannot hear doesn’t mean she feels different things than other people. She just needed people to be clearer when they spoke with her and not for them to make the assumption that she was stupid or needed things blasted at loud volumes. The friendships in the novel were very relatable to all, as kids some friendships are a bit illogical but were formed because of necessity or lack of other people around. Cece’s feelings on her different friendships were funny, sad, happy, frustrated, and many more emotions we have all felt over the years. A great coming of age novel that teaches the reader about how everyone is different in their own way and to be accepting of all people.
--------April 25th pre-review---------
This one started out really strong for me, I was even literally laughing out loud. But at the midway point I lost a lot of interest.
I will share this, my grandmother is hard of hearing. She was born that way and her parents (my great grandparents were deaf and their parents before them). So reading this book reminded me quite a bit of the stories my grandmother told me about being deaf as a little girl. It's kind of crazy how similar the life of a deaf girl growing up in the 30's and 40's as one growing up in the 80's/90's. Like that hearing aid the main character wore? My grandma had one too but it was attached to her leg and had even longer strings to the ears. She told me about how other children would run by her and slap it, which really hurt her ears. It's good to know that the author of this book wasn't bullied like my grandmother was for being deaf.
***Reading level 8-12 years but all ages can enjoy***
After a sudden illness strikes Cece when she is four, she finds herself hearing impaired after recovering. Her doctors have given her a device to wear which helps her hear, but it’s very noticeable being strapped to her chest and having cords in her ears. Over the years Cece faces many trials brought on by her impairment, from being made fun of, to friends wanting to be friends so they can have a “deaf friend”, to people shouting in her ears and blasting the radio and television. This is the autobiographical story of how Cece grew up with little hearing, and how she dreamed of using it as a superpower to help her.
A very funny look at growing up with a hearing impairment. As a autobiographical work, the author is able to tell her story of her issues as a young child with a sense of humor about her experiences and doesn’t add any hostility in her voice. While there are many issues Cece dealt with that were solely because of her hearing impairment, many issues were about friendships and dealing with bullies, what many tweens experience in general. The artwork was very vibrant, lots of bright colors and actions and more. The fact that all of the characters were bunnies was a bit strange, but it appeals to a younger age group that this book is geared toward.
This book also promotes awareness and understanding for people with disabilities, mostly it points out that just because Cece cannot hear doesn’t mean she feels different things than other people. She just needed people to be clearer when they spoke with her and not for them to make the assumption that she was stupid or needed things blasted at loud volumes. The friendships in the novel were very relatable to all, as kids some friendships are a bit illogical but were formed because of necessity or lack of other people around. Cece’s feelings on her different friendships were funny, sad, happy, frustrated, and many more emotions we have all felt over the years. A great coming of age novel that teaches the reader about how everyone is different in their own way and to be accepting of all people.
--------April 25th pre-review---------
This one started out really strong for me, I was even literally laughing out loud. But at the midway point I lost a lot of interest.
I will share this, my grandmother is hard of hearing. She was born that way and her parents (my great grandparents were deaf and their parents before them). So reading this book reminded me quite a bit of the stories my grandmother told me about being deaf as a little girl. It's kind of crazy how similar the life of a deaf girl growing up in the 30's and 40's as one growing up in the 80's/90's. Like that hearing aid the main character wore? My grandma had one too but it was attached to her leg and had even longer strings to the ears. She told me about how other children would run by her and slap it, which really hurt her ears. It's good to know that the author of this book wasn't bullied like my grandmother was for being deaf.
July 21, 2017
7/21/17 Reread for my summer YA Graphic novels class, the memoir of a girl who has lost much of her hearing, gets bullied for it, but transforms her sense of herself by thinking of herself as a superhero, El Deafo! Great for any kids who are being bullied for being different. From the time I first read this three years ago and now, this has become a staple in American elementary and middle schools, yay!
9/13/14 Bell's memoir about her hearing impairment, brought on by meningitis when she was 4 years old. She's made fun of for this, called Deafo, but she chooses to view herself as special, El Deafo. She at some point needs glasses, too, and as you know, these vision-hearing problems are not so rare for kids, and so her speaking to kids through her experience can be very useful. And also (in 4th and 5th grade) she likes a boy, so there's stuff about that and school generally. It's very ambitious, more than 200 pages long, so really must be seen as more directed to tweens, though younger kids will like it, too, especially where hearing is an issue in a family or neighborhood. This is already a very popular book in schools.
9/13/14 Bell's memoir about her hearing impairment, brought on by meningitis when she was 4 years old. She's made fun of for this, called Deafo, but she chooses to view herself as special, El Deafo. She at some point needs glasses, too, and as you know, these vision-hearing problems are not so rare for kids, and so her speaking to kids through her experience can be very useful. And also (in 4th and 5th grade) she likes a boy, so there's stuff about that and school generally. It's very ambitious, more than 200 pages long, so really must be seen as more directed to tweens, though younger kids will like it, too, especially where hearing is an issue in a family or neighborhood. This is already a very popular book in schools.
February 25, 2016
What a gift Cece Bell has given us in this fantastic graphic novel. It is a very realistic portrayal of her own elementary school experiences: her illness and hearing impairment, moving, adjusting to a new school, a giant hearing aid, trying to make friends, and the many different reactions to her deafness. I found both her and her alter ego El Deafo to be honest, smart, and funny. A wonderful story about growing up and learning the strengths in our differences.
**I actually took this out of the library for my daughter. She absolutely devoured this book, reading it constantly until she finished. I heard her chuckle quite a few times but I also overheard her explaining the book to her grandfather in detail and she mentioned the difficulties she observed in the story. This book has a great message for all ages.
**I actually took this out of the library for my daughter. She absolutely devoured this book, reading it constantly until she finished. I heard her chuckle quite a few times but I also overheard her explaining the book to her grandfather in detail and she mentioned the difficulties she observed in the story. This book has a great message for all ages.
August 21, 2014
We appear to exist in a golden age of children’s graphic novel memoirs. Which is to say, there are three of them out this year (El Deafo, Sisters, and The Dumbest Idea Ever). How to account for the sudden tiny boom? If I were to harbor a guess I’d say it has something to do with publishers realizing that the genre can prove a profitable one (hat tip then to Smile). We’re beginning to enter into an era where the bulk of the gatekeepers out there, be they parents or teachers or librarians, are viewing comics not as a corrupting influence but rather as a new literary form with which to teach. Memoirs are particularly interesting and have proven to be a wonderful way to slowly ease kids into the big beautiful world of nonfiction. That said, not everyone’s youth is worthy of a retelling. To tell a memoir well you need to have a narrative arc of some sort. One that doesn’t feel forced. For CeCe Bell, her first foray into graphic novels is also telling the story of her youth. The result, El Deafo, is a remarkable look at a great grand question (What to do when you can no longer hear and feel different from everyone you know?) alongside a smaller one that every kid will relate to (How do you find a good friend?). Bell takes the personal and makes it universal, an act that truly requires superhero skills.
Until the age of four CeCe was pretty much indistinguishable from any other kid. She liked her older siblings. She liked to sing to herself. But a sudden bout with meningitis and something changed for CeCe. All at once her hearing was gone. After some experimentation she was fitted with a Sonic Ear (a device that enabled her to hear her teacher's voice) and started attending classes with other kids like herself. A family trip to a smaller town, however, meant going to a new school and trying to make new friends. When faced with problems she reverts to her pretend superhero self, El Deafo. With subtlety Bell weaves in knowledge of everything from reading lips and sign language to the difficulties of watching un-captioned television. At the same time the book’s heart lies with a single quest: That of finding the absolute perfect friend.
The rise of the graphic novel memoir of a cartoonist’s youth with a child audience in mind really hit its stride when Raina Telgemeier wrote, Smile. That dire accounting of her at times horrific dental history paved the way for other books in the same vein. So where did my library choose to catalog that graceful memoir? In the biography section? No. In the graphic novel section? Not initially, no. For the first year of its existence it was shelved in nonfiction under the Dewey Decimal number 617.645 T. That’s right. We put it in the dental section. So it was with great trepidation that I looked to see where El Deafo would end up. Would it be in the section on the hearing impaired or would the catalog understand that this book is about so much more than the Sonic Ear? As it happens, the book appears to be primarily cataloged as a memoir more than anything else. Sure the information in there about the deaf community and other aspects of living as someone hearing impaired are nonfiction, but the focus of the story is always squarely on CeCe herself.
The real reason I found the book as compelling as I did was due in large part to the way in which Bell tackles the illogical logic of childhood friendships. So many kids are friends thanks to geographical convenience. You’re my age and live within a certain radius of my home? We’re besties! And Bell’s hearing impaired state is just a part of why she is or is not friends with one person or another. Really, the true arc of the story isn’t necessarily CeCe coming to terms with the Sonic Ear, but rather how she comes to terms with herself and, in doing so, gets the best possible friend. It’s like reading a real life Goldilocks story. This friend is too bossy. This friend is too fixated on Cece’s hearing. But this friend? She’s juuuuuust right.
So why bunnies? Bell could easily have told her story with human beings. And though the characters in this book appear to be anthropomorphized rabbits (reminding me of nothing so much as when guest stars would appear on the children’s television program Arthur) there is no particular reason for this. They never mention a particular love of carrots or restrict their movements to hop hop hopping. They are, however, very easy on the eyes and very enticing. This book was sitting on my To Be Reviewed shelf when my three-year-old waltzed over and plucked it for her own perusal. The bunnies are accessible. In fact, you completely forget that they even are bunnies in the course of reading the book. You also fail to notice after a while how beautifully Bell has laid out her comic panels too. The sequential storytelling is expertly rendered, never losing the reader or throwing you out of the story. One librarian I spoke to also mentioned how nice it was to see that the dream sequences with El Deafo are always clearly delineated as just that. Dream sequences. Fantasy and reality are easily distinguishable in this novel. No mean feat when everyone has a twitchy little nose.
Maybe we’ve peaked. Maybe we’re seeing as many graphic memoirs for kids as we’ll ever see in a given year. But that can’t be, can it? We all have stories to tell, no matter what our upbringing looked like. There’s always some element in our past that’s relatable to a wide audience. It’s the clever author that knows how to spin that element into a storyline worthy of a younger audience. There isn’t a jot of doubt in my mind that CeCe Bell’s book is going to be vastly beloved by nearly every child that picks it up. Engaging and beautifully drawn, to say nothing of its strength and out-and-out facts, El Deafo is going to help set the standard for what a memoir for kids should be. Infinitely clever. Undeniably fun. Don’t miss it.
For ages 9-12.
Until the age of four CeCe was pretty much indistinguishable from any other kid. She liked her older siblings. She liked to sing to herself. But a sudden bout with meningitis and something changed for CeCe. All at once her hearing was gone. After some experimentation she was fitted with a Sonic Ear (a device that enabled her to hear her teacher's voice) and started attending classes with other kids like herself. A family trip to a smaller town, however, meant going to a new school and trying to make new friends. When faced with problems she reverts to her pretend superhero self, El Deafo. With subtlety Bell weaves in knowledge of everything from reading lips and sign language to the difficulties of watching un-captioned television. At the same time the book’s heart lies with a single quest: That of finding the absolute perfect friend.
The rise of the graphic novel memoir of a cartoonist’s youth with a child audience in mind really hit its stride when Raina Telgemeier wrote, Smile. That dire accounting of her at times horrific dental history paved the way for other books in the same vein. So where did my library choose to catalog that graceful memoir? In the biography section? No. In the graphic novel section? Not initially, no. For the first year of its existence it was shelved in nonfiction under the Dewey Decimal number 617.645 T. That’s right. We put it in the dental section. So it was with great trepidation that I looked to see where El Deafo would end up. Would it be in the section on the hearing impaired or would the catalog understand that this book is about so much more than the Sonic Ear? As it happens, the book appears to be primarily cataloged as a memoir more than anything else. Sure the information in there about the deaf community and other aspects of living as someone hearing impaired are nonfiction, but the focus of the story is always squarely on CeCe herself.
The real reason I found the book as compelling as I did was due in large part to the way in which Bell tackles the illogical logic of childhood friendships. So many kids are friends thanks to geographical convenience. You’re my age and live within a certain radius of my home? We’re besties! And Bell’s hearing impaired state is just a part of why she is or is not friends with one person or another. Really, the true arc of the story isn’t necessarily CeCe coming to terms with the Sonic Ear, but rather how she comes to terms with herself and, in doing so, gets the best possible friend. It’s like reading a real life Goldilocks story. This friend is too bossy. This friend is too fixated on Cece’s hearing. But this friend? She’s juuuuuust right.
So why bunnies? Bell could easily have told her story with human beings. And though the characters in this book appear to be anthropomorphized rabbits (reminding me of nothing so much as when guest stars would appear on the children’s television program Arthur) there is no particular reason for this. They never mention a particular love of carrots or restrict their movements to hop hop hopping. They are, however, very easy on the eyes and very enticing. This book was sitting on my To Be Reviewed shelf when my three-year-old waltzed over and plucked it for her own perusal. The bunnies are accessible. In fact, you completely forget that they even are bunnies in the course of reading the book. You also fail to notice after a while how beautifully Bell has laid out her comic panels too. The sequential storytelling is expertly rendered, never losing the reader or throwing you out of the story. One librarian I spoke to also mentioned how nice it was to see that the dream sequences with El Deafo are always clearly delineated as just that. Dream sequences. Fantasy and reality are easily distinguishable in this novel. No mean feat when everyone has a twitchy little nose.
Maybe we’ve peaked. Maybe we’re seeing as many graphic memoirs for kids as we’ll ever see in a given year. But that can’t be, can it? We all have stories to tell, no matter what our upbringing looked like. There’s always some element in our past that’s relatable to a wide audience. It’s the clever author that knows how to spin that element into a storyline worthy of a younger audience. There isn’t a jot of doubt in my mind that CeCe Bell’s book is going to be vastly beloved by nearly every child that picks it up. Engaging and beautifully drawn, to say nothing of its strength and out-and-out facts, El Deafo is going to help set the standard for what a memoir for kids should be. Infinitely clever. Undeniably fun. Don’t miss it.
For ages 9-12.
July 15, 2016
El Deafo is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel by author Cece Bell. Cece becomes deaf at the age of four after contracting meningitis. She must use a hearing aid, but sometimes the words she hears are garbled and she must rely on visual clues and lip reading to clearly understand. Cece eventually moves, leaving behind her best friend, and starts a new school. She gets a new hearing aid that is much stronger called "The Phonic Ear." The teacher wears a microphone around her neck so that Cece can hear her voice more clearly. The Phonic Ear makes Cece self conscious at first because she desperately wants to fit in and not stand out. However, she begins to realize that the hearing aid gives her a "superpower" and envisions herself as a superhero.
One recurrent theme is that of friendship. Cece goes through several different friends until she finally connects with one that isn't bossy and doesn't treat her differently because of her deafness. Cece is often annoyed by the fact people think speaking louder or more slowly is necessary. Speaking more slowly makes it more difficult for her to read lips when she's wearing her at-home hearing aids. Her friend Ginny does this, but for the longest I just assumed Ginny, the new student from Georgia, had a long southern drawl.
This graphic novel was an entertaining read with a good message for children about empathy, and the illustrations were cute. I was a little conflicted with the ending because I didn't think the way Cece becomes the class hero was the best example for the impressionable intended reader, but I'm assuming that part was probably autobiographical and a realistic portrayal of what kids do in the classroom.
I appreciated the author's note at the back of the book. Ms. Bell explains how the "Deaf community" is not a homogeneous, monolithic group. Each deaf person's situation is different and how he/she chooses to communicate is a personal choice. She has never chosen to "pursue a direct role" in the Deaf community because of her experience of being able to hear before the illness and remaining mostly in the hearing world. I admired the fact that she doesn't let deafness define her or view it as a disability.
"Our differences are our superpowers."
One recurrent theme is that of friendship. Cece goes through several different friends until she finally connects with one that isn't bossy and doesn't treat her differently because of her deafness. Cece is often annoyed by the fact people think speaking louder or more slowly is necessary. Speaking more slowly makes it more difficult for her to read lips when she's wearing her at-home hearing aids. Her friend Ginny does this, but for the longest I just assumed Ginny, the new student from Georgia, had a long southern drawl.
This graphic novel was an entertaining read with a good message for children about empathy, and the illustrations were cute. I was a little conflicted with the ending because I didn't think the way Cece becomes the class hero was the best example for the impressionable intended reader, but I'm assuming that part was probably autobiographical and a realistic portrayal of what kids do in the classroom.
I appreciated the author's note at the back of the book. Ms. Bell explains how the "Deaf community" is not a homogeneous, monolithic group. Each deaf person's situation is different and how he/she chooses to communicate is a personal choice. She has never chosen to "pursue a direct role" in the Deaf community because of her experience of being able to hear before the illness and remaining mostly in the hearing world. I admired the fact that she doesn't let deafness define her or view it as a disability.
"Our differences are our superpowers."
May 21, 2017
Cece Bell uses the graphic novel format to tell her own story of hearing loss and the imagination of a child going through it. I thought it was fantastic, presenting real issues like how friendships change, the balancing of the best technology with the most comfortable technology, resistance to learning ASL, etc. Some of my favorite moments were just in the artistic representations, particularly a few pages on the trampoline. And who wouldn't love the character of El Deafo, the superhero who fearlessly confronts the world!
I felt myself responding very positively but started to wonder how the deaf community had responded. That's when I discovered this was a memoir (up until then I thought it was just a story), and found this article about how it empowers kids. Ah, so good to know.
I zoomed through this on the day my students were exploring the juvenile section of the library and reliving their childhoods.
I felt myself responding very positively but started to wonder how the deaf community had responded. That's when I discovered this was a memoir (up until then I thought it was just a story), and found this article about how it empowers kids. Ah, so good to know.
I zoomed through this on the day my students were exploring the juvenile section of the library and reliving their childhoods.
April 17, 2021
[3+] I would have loved reading this graphic memoir with my children when they were young - so my rating reflects my current tastes, not the quality of the book. I steer away from middle grade and YA literature. A big chunk of the book is about elementary school friendship angst - which isn't for me.
I did love the early part of the book when the author focuses on how her life changed at age 4 after losing her hearing from meningitis. She described her emotions and the reactions of others beautifully. It brought back memories of when my younger brother was first diagnosed as hard of hearing.
I did love the early part of the book when the author focuses on how her life changed at age 4 after losing her hearing from meningitis. She described her emotions and the reactions of others beautifully. It brought back memories of when my younger brother was first diagnosed as hard of hearing.
March 29, 2016
A small bunny gets meningitis and loses her hearing. This graphic novel is about how she learns to deal with other people and their reactions to 'the deaf girl.'
Wow, sounds pretty lame and after-school-special, right? WRONG. This book is so cute and funny. And Cece is sassy, you'll be cheering for her all the way.
It's so hard and frustrating when people treat her like she's different - or even worse, 'special.' She just wants to yell at them and tell them to treat her normal! But she's pretty sweet and can never find the courage to do that.
Even her own mom railroads her sometimes! Sheesh, even her own mom is treating her like 'the deaf girl' sometimes and not listening to what Cece has to say!
But Cece has decided that she is like a superhero! A superhero named "El Deafo." And with her superpowers, she can handle any problem that comes her way!
I was laughing and enjoying this funny book.
Best part: A kid in her class asks Cece "Are you death?" LOL So funny. And exactly the kind of mistake a kid would make, changing 'deaf' for 'death!' LOL And then Cece, in her mind - using her El Deafo persona, says, "Yes, I'm Death! And YOU are next on my list!" LOL She's so funny.
I highly recommend this to kids or even adults. Very quick, entertaining read.
Wow, sounds pretty lame and after-school-special, right? WRONG. This book is so cute and funny. And Cece is sassy, you'll be cheering for her all the way.
It's so hard and frustrating when people treat her like she's different - or even worse, 'special.' She just wants to yell at them and tell them to treat her normal! But she's pretty sweet and can never find the courage to do that.
Even her own mom railroads her sometimes! Sheesh, even her own mom is treating her like 'the deaf girl' sometimes and not listening to what Cece has to say!
But Cece has decided that she is like a superhero! A superhero named "El Deafo." And with her superpowers, she can handle any problem that comes her way!
I was laughing and enjoying this funny book.
Best part: A kid in her class asks Cece "Are you death?" LOL So funny. And exactly the kind of mistake a kid would make, changing 'deaf' for 'death!' LOL And then Cece, in her mind - using her El Deafo persona, says, "Yes, I'm Death! And YOU are next on my list!" LOL She's so funny.
I highly recommend this to kids or even adults. Very quick, entertaining read.
September 21, 2015
My 7-year-old daughter and I laughed and cried through every chapter. As soon as I shut the back cover, she burst into tears and blubbered, "Read it again, Mommy."
Completely unique. A must read for all kids in the lower grades and any adults who grew up in the weird and spectacular 1970s.
Completely unique. A must read for all kids in the lower grades and any adults who grew up in the weird and spectacular 1970s.
December 22, 2020
It's so rare for someone who hearts children's books especially with illustrations and real stories to really dislike such books but this one is an exception. I didn't see this coming though! I can understand what the main character has been through ever since she was diagnosed with her condition, all the discrimination and likewise that the book tries to convey but I have never come across a child character this judgemental and discriminating towards others taking 'advantage' of her condition if I could say that. And it comes out like that to me. The first half was completely okay when the book talked about how her family struggled and did everything right for her. But it's the later half that seems like she started behaving so annoying and unbearable. I wanted to DNF this one so bad at page number 70 something but somehow I completed it nevertheless!
I can understand she's trying to cope with her disability and trying her best to adjust to her surroundings but this one is so not for me or for anyone I would recommend books to. The later half of the book gave me so much of negative vibes and all the 'I-am-with-a-health-condition-so-I-will-say-and-do-whatever-I-want' just did not come out right. It's not even cute or anything that would seem good for whatever reason.
No. I cannot.
No.
I can understand she's trying to cope with her disability and trying her best to adjust to her surroundings but this one is so not for me or for anyone I would recommend books to. The later half of the book gave me so much of negative vibes and all the 'I-am-with-a-health-condition-so-I-will-say-and-do-whatever-I-want' just did not come out right. It's not even cute or anything that would seem good for whatever reason.
No. I cannot.
No.
September 6, 2015
I hate to say that this book taught me a lot about what people with hearing impairments have to deal with – not because it isn't true, but because it might make the book sound preachy. And it isn't. It's straightforward and direct and a fun, fascinating read.
The premise is simple: Cece sustains illness-induced hearing loss at a very young age, and both she and the reader must puzzle their way through a newly tricky world.
I liked two things especially about this story. First, Cece's struggles to make friends are relatable to anyone who's navigated the rough waters of public school. Whether you're currently able-bodied or not, you'll find yourself nodding and smiling, sometimes ruefully, as you read El Deafo. I especially loved seeing that I wasn't the only little kid who coped with social difficulties by developing a rich, superhero-intensive fantasy life.
Second, Cece isn't a paragon of perfection. She's a good, funny, smart kid, but she's sometimes sharp and judgmental, and she doesn't handle every situation as well as she could. She's not an innocent victim in a cruel world. She needs to give people the information they need – information she herself probably wouldn't have if she hadn't been forced into firsthand experience with her condition.
It's not intuitively obvious, for instance, that if someone's hard of hearing, turning up the volume on the TV or radio isn't much help. For Cece, it simply means that an already unintelligible sound is now unintelligible and LOUD. But that's something you have to experience or be told about to know.
It's also counterintuitive that speaking slow-ly and dis-tinct-ly can actually make things a lot harder for your hearing impaired friend. It makes lip-reading a huge pain, and your words sound really weird.
Cece doesn't speak up about these things until very late in the story. To be fair, she should have been told, by the same people who helped her figure out her hearing aid and taught her lip-reading, that she'll need to educate her friends. It's not always fun being part of someone's learning experience, but it's often necessary. Yes, some of the people around her are unkind and condescending; but plenty of them are friendly and welcoming, and often it's only Cece's insecurity that stands in the way of making more friends sooner than she does.
Oh, another thing I really liked: Although Cece develops a crush on a boy (and yay! – he's a worthy recipient of her youthful affection), the most important relationship in this story is the one between Cece and a girl who (spoiler alert) becomes her best friend. And the "WOOHOO!" ending is all thanks to Cece's hard-won ability to tell those around her who she is and what she needs.
El Deafo is sweet without being treacly, authentic without being brutal, and (for this reader) very happy-making. Definitely recommended.
The premise is simple: Cece sustains illness-induced hearing loss at a very young age, and both she and the reader must puzzle their way through a newly tricky world.
I liked two things especially about this story. First, Cece's struggles to make friends are relatable to anyone who's navigated the rough waters of public school. Whether you're currently able-bodied or not, you'll find yourself nodding and smiling, sometimes ruefully, as you read El Deafo. I especially loved seeing that I wasn't the only little kid who coped with social difficulties by developing a rich, superhero-intensive fantasy life.
Second, Cece isn't a paragon of perfection. She's a good, funny, smart kid, but she's sometimes sharp and judgmental, and she doesn't handle every situation as well as she could. She's not an innocent victim in a cruel world. She needs to give people the information they need – information she herself probably wouldn't have if she hadn't been forced into firsthand experience with her condition.
It's not intuitively obvious, for instance, that if someone's hard of hearing, turning up the volume on the TV or radio isn't much help. For Cece, it simply means that an already unintelligible sound is now unintelligible and LOUD. But that's something you have to experience or be told about to know.
It's also counterintuitive that speaking slow-ly and dis-tinct-ly can actually make things a lot harder for your hearing impaired friend. It makes lip-reading a huge pain, and your words sound really weird.
Cece doesn't speak up about these things until very late in the story. To be fair, she should have been told, by the same people who helped her figure out her hearing aid and taught her lip-reading, that she'll need to educate her friends. It's not always fun being part of someone's learning experience, but it's often necessary. Yes, some of the people around her are unkind and condescending; but plenty of them are friendly and welcoming, and often it's only Cece's insecurity that stands in the way of making more friends sooner than she does.
Oh, another thing I really liked: Although Cece develops a crush on a boy (and yay! – he's a worthy recipient of her youthful affection), the most important relationship in this story is the one between Cece and a girl who (spoiler alert) becomes her best friend. And the "WOOHOO!" ending is all thanks to Cece's hard-won ability to tell those around her who she is and what she needs.
El Deafo is sweet without being treacly, authentic without being brutal, and (for this reader) very happy-making. Definitely recommended.
January 8, 2023
4 stars - very good graphic memoir about a hearing-impaired young girl coming of age with her differences. Informative & real.
June 1, 2015
When she is four years old, Cece loses most of her hearing following a bout of meningitis. She is quickly fitted with hearing aids which, combined with lipreading, help her understand what people are saying -- so long as she can see their mouths, or they're not cartoons on TV, making nonsense shapes instead of words.
Thanks to the Phonic Ear, which has a microphone that allows teachers' words to travel directly to Cece's ears, she's mainstreamed in school. She does well, but suffers insecurity due to the obvious cords from her hearing aid. Other kids aren't always sure how to act around her. And they're able to be mean to her by not letting her see what they're saying.
This is a really charming graphic novel, drawn with rabbits (so everyone has big ears). It captures both the general troubles and foibles of navigating elementary school and friendship and the specific problems Cece encounters due to her difference from other people. It's light-handed and humorous, but at the same time, it's deep and very touching.
Definitely recommended!
January 5, 2015
3.5 stars
I've never really been a fan of graphic novels. I appreciate the effort that goes in them, but for the most part, they don't do anything for me. Off the top of my head, I can only think of three books of this genre that I've found noteworthy: Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, My Friend Dahmer, and The Complete Maus. The common thread among these three: each have an autobiographical component, and while fanciful, are all grounded in reality.
I was attracted to Cece Bell's El Deafo not only because it, too (despite a complement of anthropomorphized rabbits) seemed to be autobiographical in nature (based on Ms. Bell's real-life experiences growing up alienated from her peers because of a meningitis-caused deafness), but its beautifully whimsical, lovingly rendered rabbity drawings might possibly attract my daughter's attention, and allow for a daddy-daughter buddy read and provide a teaching moment. (Its target audience is probably 2nd through 5th graders, so much of the message--of tolerance and acceptance of those who are different than us--was probably lost on her.) This aborted experiment was not a total failure though: before her attention started waning, she laughed a lot at the Super Hero-ic El Deafo (i.e. Ms. Bell) and her efforts to fit in; I was quite impressed at the non-preachy and universally accessible message. We will be revisiting this one soon, I'm sure.
I've never really been a fan of graphic novels. I appreciate the effort that goes in them, but for the most part, they don't do anything for me. Off the top of my head, I can only think of three books of this genre that I've found noteworthy: Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, My Friend Dahmer, and The Complete Maus. The common thread among these three: each have an autobiographical component, and while fanciful, are all grounded in reality.
I was attracted to Cece Bell's El Deafo not only because it, too (despite a complement of anthropomorphized rabbits) seemed to be autobiographical in nature (based on Ms. Bell's real-life experiences growing up alienated from her peers because of a meningitis-caused deafness), but its beautifully whimsical, lovingly rendered rabbity drawings might possibly attract my daughter's attention, and allow for a daddy-daughter buddy read and provide a teaching moment. (Its target audience is probably 2nd through 5th graders, so much of the message--of tolerance and acceptance of those who are different than us--was probably lost on her.) This aborted experiment was not a total failure though: before her attention started waning, she laughed a lot at the Super Hero-ic El Deafo (i.e. Ms. Bell) and her efforts to fit in; I was quite impressed at the non-preachy and universally accessible message. We will be revisiting this one soon, I'm sure.
July 31, 2014
CeCe Bell's graphic novel memoir is a standout, both as an exemplar for the form and for its message. While I knew that CeCe has hearing loss, I enjoyed getting to know CeCe better through this story. I think many children will relate to her struggles to form meaningful, healthy friendships and her journey toward self-acceptance.
September 7, 2017
Great book. Such a fun memoir to read. This is an honest telling of what it is to be raised hearing impaired. Fun little stories and fun art and the telling is simple and honest. El Deafo jumps off the page. I get why this was considered for the Newberry and got an Honor. I think anyone can enjoy this book and enrich your life. So glad I gave this book a go.
September 8, 2019
I am not always a huge fan of graphic novels (and indeed when late last night I quickly skimmed though Cece Bell's illustrations for her Newbery Honour winning 2014 semi-autobiographical El Deafo, I have to admit that her pictorial renderings were most definitely not what I would personally consider aesthetically pleasant by any stretch of my imagination). For while I do like David Lasky’s sense and use of colour, sorry, but Cece Bell's rabbit/human combinations, at best they have not really visually spoken to me in an enjoyable manner and at worst, yes, I actually have even tended to find Cece and everyone else depicted more than a trifle visually creepy in their physical appearances (with in particular the superimposed rabbit ears and spindling legs and arms just not at all being to my personal and aesthetic tastes). And truth be told, I almost did consider not continuing with El Deafo, but then decided to stick with it, since El Deafo did win a Newbery Honour designation and I had also and equally heard many good things regarding author Cece Bell's presented text and that it supposedly is both an engaging and also a realistic (from her own childhood experiences with deafness) reading experience.
And yes, if I do not consider the illustrations (if I for the most part ignore them) and instead concentrate more on Bell's presented narrative, I have indeed found El Deafo both enjoyable and engaging, not to mention at times heart-breaking and of course often also heart-warming (and in many ways even with Cece's deafness and having to deal with large and cumbersome hearing aids often just a typical story about maneuvering through the mazes of friendship, boys etc. during middle school, made all the more poignant because much of this, because most of this is the author's own and personal story). But of course, I should probably also point out that while I have certainly and indeed found El Deafo realistic and that the scenarios young Cece experiences with her family, with her teachers, with her school friends and acquaintances seem to ring true and appear reasonable, realistic and typical, I am also not deaf and equally never had a school friend or acquaintance who was profoundly hard of hearing. And thus perhaps, young Cece's personal experiences with her own hearing loss might not have been what other hard of hearing individuals experienced during their own childhood and at school and vice versa (in other words, while I personally have found El Deafo delightful on a textual level, and very much relatable, engaging, I also do realise that my saying that Cece Bell's narrative rings true should probably also be taken with a bit of a grain of salt and that it is my personal take on El Deafo). Highly recommended and indeed, my three star ranking is simply that I just do not like the illustrations all that much, that for me, it is really ONLY the text, the printed words of El Deafo that I have been able to both truly enjoy and appreciate without reservations.
And yes, if I do not consider the illustrations (if I for the most part ignore them) and instead concentrate more on Bell's presented narrative, I have indeed found El Deafo both enjoyable and engaging, not to mention at times heart-breaking and of course often also heart-warming (and in many ways even with Cece's deafness and having to deal with large and cumbersome hearing aids often just a typical story about maneuvering through the mazes of friendship, boys etc. during middle school, made all the more poignant because much of this, because most of this is the author's own and personal story). But of course, I should probably also point out that while I have certainly and indeed found El Deafo realistic and that the scenarios young Cece experiences with her family, with her teachers, with her school friends and acquaintances seem to ring true and appear reasonable, realistic and typical, I am also not deaf and equally never had a school friend or acquaintance who was profoundly hard of hearing. And thus perhaps, young Cece's personal experiences with her own hearing loss might not have been what other hard of hearing individuals experienced during their own childhood and at school and vice versa (in other words, while I personally have found El Deafo delightful on a textual level, and very much relatable, engaging, I also do realise that my saying that Cece Bell's narrative rings true should probably also be taken with a bit of a grain of salt and that it is my personal take on El Deafo). Highly recommended and indeed, my three star ranking is simply that I just do not like the illustrations all that much, that for me, it is really ONLY the text, the printed words of El Deafo that I have been able to both truly enjoy and appreciate without reservations.
March 22, 2020
I'm a Deaf and Hard of Hearing teacher. I started off reading this book with one of my students and it was fantastic. He was able to make a lot of connections to the main character. We absolutely loved our 20 minutes a week where we read a chapter of this book and did an activity.
However, that all had to come to an end, because we are now quarantined. I finished the book on my own today and now I'm trying to figure out how to get him a copy and how to continue on with our lessons.
But besides all that, this book is fantastic and I highly suggest reading it to EVERYONE! It really educated others on what deaf and hard of hearing students go through everyday. Also, it is a great story to read with a student that is deaf or hard of hearing because they can make many connections to the book.
"Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in school — in the hallway... in the teacher's lounge... in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?"
However, that all had to come to an end, because we are now quarantined. I finished the book on my own today and now I'm trying to figure out how to get him a copy and how to continue on with our lessons.
But besides all that, this book is fantastic and I highly suggest reading it to EVERYONE! It really educated others on what deaf and hard of hearing students go through everyday. Also, it is a great story to read with a student that is deaf or hard of hearing because they can make many connections to the book.
"Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in school — in the hallway... in the teacher's lounge... in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?"
November 18, 2022
السن المستهدف: 8-12 سنة
النوع الأدبي: قصص واقعية
So if you want to be "Popular" and gain your classmates' friendship, all you should do is "spying" on your teacher to give them the chance to misbehave?
You cast away "bossy" friends and "kids who don't treat you as a normal person" from your life, only to let the boy that you have a crush on "use" you as mean to mischief, and here you have children story's happy ending.
Really???????
I was really happy to have this book. I wanted to find a good graphic book about people who have different abilities, or about people who are having struggles in life that we don't know a lot about. Till the first third of the book, I was giving a blind eye to the girl's attitude that I don't appreciate being "approved" in a children's book, hoping to find that the girl learned something different at the end that would make her "really" accepting her difference. I was considering purchasing this book for our library. But letting people take advantage of you is not the kind of happy ending for me.
النوع الأدبي: قصص واقعية
So if you want to be "Popular" and gain your classmates' friendship, all you should do is "spying" on your teacher to give them the chance to misbehave?
You cast away "bossy" friends and "kids who don't treat you as a normal person" from your life, only to let the boy that you have a crush on "use" you as mean to mischief, and here you have children story's happy ending.
Really???????
I was really happy to have this book. I wanted to find a good graphic book about people who have different abilities, or about people who are having struggles in life that we don't know a lot about. Till the first third of the book, I was giving a blind eye to the girl's attitude that I don't appreciate being "approved" in a children's book, hoping to find that the girl learned something different at the end that would make her "really" accepting her difference. I was considering purchasing this book for our library. But letting people take advantage of you is not the kind of happy ending for me.
March 16, 2016
El Deafo is one of the best graphic novels I've read, about Cece Bell growing up with a severe hearing impairment in the 80s after becoming ill. El Deafo is beautifully illustrated and the story is fantastic. Cece shows us what it's like to not only be unable to hear what's being said but understand what's being said. From the difficulties of making friends – especially best friends – to discovering the amazing Phonic Ear, this is a remarkable story about growing up. Cece now has superpowers: El Deafo, Listener for All!
I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books.
March 3, 2020
I had some issues with this, like the kids using her in the end and being taken advantage of is her superpower that's she's glad for? I can understand that through a kids pov, which was she was at the time, but now it just doesn't come across right to me and sends a bad message IMO. And the way she treats others, including kids, when they don't know how to best interact with her. Instead of telling them, even when it's obvious they mean well, she just says screw them.
That afterward, for the most part I liked. But not all differences can be seen as superpowers. I am disabled, in different ways, and trust me, there is no way to view them or my chronic pain as a "superpower", and being disabled isn't something to be ashamed of. I understand why she doesn't consider herself disabled and that's not what I have a problem with. I don't see my aphantasia as a real disability either (though some do, that's ok), and in some ways do consider it a super-power. So I understood that from a different lens.
But it did seem (to me) to come off as a bit "disability is shameful" (though I don't think that was intentional and could just be a me thing) and that if you "just try hard enough, you can think of your disability, regardless of what it is, as a super-power too" and...uh....no. That last paragraph of the afterword includes "Any difference can be turned into something amazing. Our differences are our superpowers." (and some..sure, I can see that, but "any?") so...the fact that i'm incontinent due to my disabilities is amazing? My chronic pain from my differences...is amazing? No..no it is not. I am not ashamed, nor do I want pity, but it still sucks. And it's allowed to.
I did enjoy so much about this though. The feelings from being different as a child. Her story and voice, which of course is important. And most of the afterword for that matter, about how different people in the deaf/hard of hearing communities can view being deaf/hard of hearing differently, and neither is wrong for doing so.
It's harder to find the words for all I did enjoy about this but I did enjoy it some of it. And i'm glad I read it. Just realize it's one person's story, which is important, just not everyone's story and different people, are different, and that's ok and that is life (and of course it's a memoir, it's not meant to be anymore than what it is). Because everyone's story and voice is important and matters. Life is full of shades of gray and sometimes vastly different opinions on something, don't even have to be contradictory like some think they do and can exist in peace together.
I want to reiterate that I really did enjoy parts of this though thinking about it i'm not sure if I would recommend it. I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't mention my entire thoughts on it and I am not sure if i'm coming across right at all. It's the best I got.
And i'm sorry for coming back to this review so quickly. I need to sit on my thoughts longer before I write reviews sometimes. In a nutshell, I liked some of it, think it had some important things to say, some of it really didn't sit right with me at all and I have no idea if i'd recommend it or not and I feel weird about all of this because it's a memoir, sort of (the afterward explains what I mean there).
That afterward, for the most part I liked. But not all differences can be seen as superpowers. I am disabled, in different ways, and trust me, there is no way to view them or my chronic pain as a "superpower", and being disabled isn't something to be ashamed of. I understand why she doesn't consider herself disabled and that's not what I have a problem with. I don't see my aphantasia as a real disability either (though some do, that's ok), and in some ways do consider it a super-power. So I understood that from a different lens.
But it did seem (to me) to come off as a bit "disability is shameful" (though I don't think that was intentional and could just be a me thing) and that if you "just try hard enough, you can think of your disability, regardless of what it is, as a super-power too" and...uh....no. That last paragraph of the afterword includes "Any difference can be turned into something amazing. Our differences are our superpowers." (and some..sure, I can see that, but "any?") so...the fact that i'm incontinent due to my disabilities is amazing? My chronic pain from my differences...is amazing? No..no it is not. I am not ashamed, nor do I want pity, but it still sucks. And it's allowed to.
I did enjoy so much about this though. The feelings from being different as a child. Her story and voice, which of course is important. And most of the afterword for that matter, about how different people in the deaf/hard of hearing communities can view being deaf/hard of hearing differently, and neither is wrong for doing so.
It's harder to find the words for all I did enjoy about this but I did enjoy it some of it. And i'm glad I read it. Just realize it's one person's story, which is important, just not everyone's story and different people, are different, and that's ok and that is life (and of course it's a memoir, it's not meant to be anymore than what it is). Because everyone's story and voice is important and matters. Life is full of shades of gray and sometimes vastly different opinions on something, don't even have to be contradictory like some think they do and can exist in peace together.
I want to reiterate that I really did enjoy parts of this though thinking about it i'm not sure if I would recommend it. I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't mention my entire thoughts on it and I am not sure if i'm coming across right at all. It's the best I got.
And i'm sorry for coming back to this review so quickly. I need to sit on my thoughts longer before I write reviews sometimes. In a nutshell, I liked some of it, think it had some important things to say, some of it really didn't sit right with me at all and I have no idea if i'd recommend it or not and I feel weird about all of this because it's a memoir, sort of (the afterward explains what I mean there).
November 4, 2018
This graphic novel is the complete package. The book itself is beautifully colored and a pleasure to hold in your hands. Cece Bell's story is at times quirky, funny and emotional to read. I really loved it and the opportunity to grow in empathy for people who have varying degrees of deafness. The Author's Note at the end is also so informative and helpful. "Our differences are our superpowers." Thank you for that message, Cece!
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