A review by linesiunderline
El Deafo by Cece Bell

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced
It’s rare for me to read a book that feels important and fun at the same time. Often I find that the books that fall into the “important reads” category might also be difficult reads or heavier reads. And trust me, those books are some of my favourite reading experiences ever, so I’m not saying one is better than the other. But reading El Deafo made me think about how it is far less common for me to read an important and funny book.

Cleve Bell’s graphic memoir is just about pitch perfect. It’s not a book that is preachy or heavy handed. It’s like stepping back in time into the real, messy, ordinary / extraordinary life of a girl who is all kinds of things - creative, smart, lonely, funny, curious and deaf. It’s pretty impressive how Bell succeeds in capturing what it’s like to be in fourth grade - all of the usual preoccupations and enthusiasms that come with being that age, as well as the particular ones for a child who is deaf in a school full of children and adults who aren’t.

This memoir is informative, humorous, warm, and oh so real. I loved it. I’d give it to just about any kid and feel like they could recognize aspects of their own experience while potentially broadening their understanding of different ways of being in the world. It’s stellar.  
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