El Deafo

El Deafo | Autobiography | Cece Bell | Newbery Medal; New York Times | ages 8-12 |

“And being different? That turned out to be the best part of all. I found that with a little creativity, and a lot of dedication, any different can be turned into something amazing. Our differences are our superpowers.”

Cece Bell was a girl enjoying her life with her favorite swimsuit, until one day, unexpectedly, she got every sick. She wasn’t sure what was going on and it took her a while to realize she couldn’t hear anymore. This was all a big scary experience, not just for Cece, but her family as well. This experience is all too much for four year old Cece. Her friends have started treating her differently, talking to her in a way that annoys Cece and makes her feel strange and weird. The doctor gives her a giant box with headphones that make her stand out even more. All this new attention is bothering Cece and makes her feel insecure. She tries to make new friends but they all aren’t the friends Cece wishes to have. After a few years, Cece meets Martha and Mike, who are true friends to Cece and she realizes she can trust them and feel good about herself once she began to open up. 

El Deafo is a great way to introduce children to deafness. Graphic novels are more interesting to some students and it feels easier and more fun to read. Considering this is a autobiography, we can be sure that what we are reading are true feelings of a person who experienced a traumatic event in their youth. In the end, the authors note gives great insight on how a person may go deaf, and the levels and meaning of being deaf. I’d use this book in a third grade to seventh grade classroom. This book can work as prompt for discussing differences and learning about different disabilities. Questions to consider as you are discussing with your classroom: Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? Do you know someone who may be going through the same experience as Cece? (The students can just think about this quietly and not answer aloud). What did you notice about Cece’s character throughout the book, from beginning to end? And considering this book is about deafness, it could be fun to practice with the class sign language, at least the alphabet.