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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
5+ stars! You'll likely see a trend with my reviews - I love to read stories about someone who has walked a different path than me in different shoes than me. Cece tells the story of her childhood as she experienced deafness. I learned a LOT from her. As an added bonus, she chose to tell the story in a comic book style and it was delightful. I passed this book on to Katie and she loved it, too. We had a lot of great conversations about what we learned and how we can love our friends who experience deafness BETTER than before. Highly recommend.
This started out excellent but I got bothered/annoyed by all the crush talk toward the middle/end. I was reading with my 9 year old and he absolutely checked out around that topic too.
I love GNs and I love memoirs, and sometimes the platform and the genre merge beautifully into a beautiful, elevated piece of literature. Bell's choice of bunnies reminds me of the mice in Maus; the separation from human drawings makes them all the more accessible, and the exaggerated ears work perfectly as focal points in Bell's story about her profound deafness. Sound is a major element: the way Bell draws the audio fading out, blaring, or being absent means this is a story to experience on a uniquely sensory level, too. Mid-to late elementary, tween, and even HS. Highly recommended.
I have reviewed this book on my blog. Please stop by for a visit.
http://mrbsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2015/06/el-deafo-by-cece-bell.html
http://mrbsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2015/06/el-deafo-by-cece-bell.html
I did not love El Deafo as much as I thought I was going to. I think I will still recommend the novel to my students, especially those who are curious about what it's like to live with a disability, but I found Cece to be so unlikable as a character. I understand that she had a traumatic childhood and had to struggle in ways that I can't even begin to understand, but as an adult I did not connect with her character in the ways that I've been able to connect with characters written by some of my other favorite middle grade graphic novelists.
What? That’s how it ends? Super cute but the ending was abrupt. Kind of felt like there was no true ending, the story just stopped.
Cece loses her hearing at age 4 and adapts to life with hearing aids. Soon she figures out that the special hearing aid that she uses in school gives her superpowers!
a wholesome, humorous memoir with a fun twist. bell does a lovely job of encapsulating her experience as a Deaf child and while sometimes the “disability is a superpower trope” is overdone in fiction, in this autobiographical respect it is fun, enjoyable, and shows the author’s emotional growth in accepting her condition. the different vignettes are variable enough for any child, Deaf or hearing, to feel a little bit of kinship to cece (the character) throughout the story. bell captures adolescent insecurity and the confusion of childhood very well in this story, and the colorful illustrations make it even more pleasant. a lovely read with an overarching message for all audiences!
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
A memoir in graphic novel form for the late-elementary, early-middle school set about the author's experiences growing up with severe to profound hearing loss. The first word that comes to mind is super-cute, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. The illustrations remind me of Marc Brown's Arthur series: all the characters are anthropomorphized bunnies.
Bell honestly and humorously discusses the difficulties both she and her peers have in learning to deal with her hearing loss. There are friends who talk too loudly or treat her with kid gloves, and Bell's own hesitation to learn sign language because she didn't want to be "special"). There are also experiences every kid will experience, like the best friend who is not really a friend, the first crush, the doltish gym teacher (although probably not every kid has had said gym teacher drop and break one's hearing aid...) Bell eventually comes to think of her disability as a superpower, reimagining herself as "El Deafo," whose Phonic Ear hearing aid gives her the power to hear her teachers in the bathroom! (What kid isn't going to think THAT'S hilarious?)
Bell also includes a thoughtful Author's Note at the end, discussing various aspects of Deaf culture and the various ways individuals may view their hearing loss (some as a disability, some as positive difference that does not need to be fixed with hearing aids or other technologies.)
This won a well-deserved Newbery Honor, and I would love to see similar graphic memoirs published for this age group.
Bell honestly and humorously discusses the difficulties both she and her peers have in learning to deal with her hearing loss. There are friends who talk too loudly or treat her with kid gloves, and Bell's own hesitation to learn sign language because she didn't want to be "special"). There are also experiences every kid will experience, like the best friend who is not really a friend, the first crush, the doltish gym teacher (although probably not every kid has had said gym teacher drop and break one's hearing aid...) Bell eventually comes to think of her disability as a superpower, reimagining herself as "El Deafo," whose Phonic Ear hearing aid gives her the power to hear her teachers in the bathroom! (What kid isn't going to think THAT'S hilarious?)
Bell also includes a thoughtful Author's Note at the end, discussing various aspects of Deaf culture and the various ways individuals may view their hearing loss (some as a disability, some as positive difference that does not need to be fixed with hearing aids or other technologies.)
This won a well-deserved Newbery Honor, and I would love to see similar graphic memoirs published for this age group.