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El Deafo


Summary: 
When 4 year old Cece gets meningitis, her parents are scared. But she recovers and everything seems like it is going to be just fine, until they discover that Cece has suffered permanent hearing loss. Told through a graphic novel, Cece Bell's somewhat autobiographical story stars a world of bunnies where Cece navigates her first grade year while dealing with her deafness, wearing a hearing aid and making friends. She copes by creating an alter ego for herself, "El Deafo", the hearing aid wearing superhero. In the end, Cece gains confidence and learns to be more assertive with other people who just don't understand how their interactions with her can have an effect.

Strengths:
This graphic novel is geared towards a younger set of readers than most of the books I will be reviewing this fall in this blog, but it still has some value and strengths for the young adult reader. The theme of dealing with being different will resonate with young adult readers, especially those dealing with a disability that is easily seen or noticed. In addition, the colorful and whimsical panels make this book flow very nicely, with good pacing and plenty of humor. Bell draws you in immediately to her story and the voice of the main character is so engaging that it is a pleasant, uplifting story to read.

If you liked this book you may like: 
Smile
The Thing About Georgie

 Bell, C., & Lasky, D. (2014). El Deafo. New York, NY: Abrams. 

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