I love it when I go back to my
stack of Newbery winners. I keep this
stack on my nightstand with my other “to read” books because I hope to one day
work my way through all of the books that have won Newbery medals and
honors. This time, I picked up El Deafo by Cece Bell.
This is
a super charming graphic memoir (loosely though…Cece in the book is a rabbit). It
is packed full of life lessons of all types and super cute illustrations. Cece, who contracted meningitis at the age of
four, recovers from the illness but suddenly finds herself without her ability
to hear. The illness left her deaf. She is scared of being different, especially
when she is fitted with the Phonic Ear, a clunky, wired hearing device and
microphone that was high-tech in the
1970s when the book takes place. Cece’s
teachers have to wear the microphone, and Cece has to wear the power pack with
wired headphones in order to hear what her teachers are saying. She combines this sound with lip reading in
order to be successful in school.
While school success is important
to Cece, having true friends who see her as more than a deaf child is what she
wants most of all. After traveling
through a series of friends, one who bosses her around and the other who treats
her like she lacks intelligence instead of hearing, Cece finds a great friend
in Martha. But, an unfortunate accident,
breaks up Martha and Cece for what feels like forever.
When Cece discovers that she can
hear her teachers through the microphone even when they leave the room (even
when they go to the bathroom), she imagines that she has super powers and gives
herself the superhero name of El Deafo.
Will El Deafo find a loyal and trusty sidekick? Will she be able to use her new superpowers
for good?
Read El Deafo. Aside from finding
the conclusion to this super adorable story, readers will also get a glimpse of
what it is like to live in Cece’s world.
Readers will see themselves in Cece’s world, as it is hard not to
reflect on how we react to people who are different from us. It really does open the reader’s eyes, making
it a great book to help children (and adults) develop empathy and
acceptance. Cece will help you see that
she is just like you, even if she does have super powers.
El Deafo by Cece
Bell, 233 pages from Amulet Books (2014). ISBN # 978-1-4197-1020-9
Ideal for elementary and early middle grade readers (and teachers
and parents who care about promoting compassion and understanding)
