Book Review: El Deafo by CeCe Bell

After becoming deaf at a young age, Cece goes from a school with special classes for deaf student to a school without that support. Follow along with the sweet and genuine memoir about going to a new school, adjusting to new routines, and making new friends.

Bell does an amazing job of using various colors of text to represent when dialogue is happening that she does not catch. She also in the dialogue she does hear, she often spells it in an almost phonetic way.  Cece's personality is on every page from her favorite swimsuit to her anxiety about the doctor's office. Readers will fall in love with this sweet story and will love the bright panels full of hopping good characters.

"Bell (Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover, 2012) shares her childhood experiences of being hearing impaired with warmth and sensitivity, exploiting the graphic format to amplify such details as misheard speech. Her whimsical color illustrations (all the human characters have rabbit ears and faces), clear explanations and Cece’s often funny adventures help make the memoir accessible and entertaining. Readers will empathize with Cece as she tries to find friends who aren’t bossy or inconsiderate, and they’ll rejoice with her when she finally does. An author's note fleshes out Bell's story, including a discussion of the many facets of deafness and Deaf culture. Worthy of a superhero." -Kirkus

Book Information:

Bell, C. (2020). EL DEAFO. Illustrated by David Lasky. New York: Amulet Books. IBSN 9781419748318

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