A review by joykirr
El Deafo by Cece Bell

4.0

I was so unsure of this book - solely by the title - so I didn’t pick it up for a long time. Knowing members of the Deaf Community and also people who are hearing impaired and hard of hearing (I used to be a teacher of deaf/hard of hearing students), I thought it might be a terrible play on words. Thankfully, it wasn’t! This was filed under “biography” at our local library, and it is about Cece Bell’s school life after she becomes sick with meningitis and becomes deaf. Cece is very blunt about how she felt and what she went through. It is simply written and easy to follow. I especially like the author’s note at the end, reminding readers that “I am an expert on no one’s deafness but my own.” This is one graphic novel I'll be happy to purchase and put on my middle school shelves.