Bell. C. (2014). El Deafo. Harry N. Abrams.
Summary
Cece comes down with meningitis at the age of four. Once she is recovered and sent home, she and her family discover that it has left her without her hearing. She then is fit with a large hearing aid that she finds embarrassing. Once she starts school, she tries to hide her deafness, and despises being treated differently because of her hearing. She secretly discovers she can hear the teacher anywhere in the building and calls it her superpower. Dubbing herself "El Deafo," Cece navigates crushes, best friends, and 'superpowers' while growing up with a hearing disability. From embarrassment to acceptance, Cece defines who she is, carrying her alternate persona with her to help her cope.
A Teacher's Perspective
If ever there was a way to teach acceptance of ones own self-perceived flaws, and understanding of others abilities, it is El Deafo. This graphic novel has animals as characters, specifically rabbits with an emphasis on ears, and deals with much more than Cece accepting her deafness, and coping with it at school. It touches on childhood crushes, siblings, and best friend relationships. The personal growth that Cece goes through would be very relatable for younger students, especially, but really any student going through a tough time. The great part is that Cece creates this alternate personal to deal with her issues, "El Deafo," in order to work her way through her problems. It really teaches coping mechanisms for children. I would definitely recommend this to teachers of younger students who want to teach children how to deal with issues.
Want to know more?
To purchase your own copy of El Deafo: Click here!
If you visit CeCe Bell's youtube page, she talks through her decisions to write the book, as well as an in depth discussion of each chapter in separate videos. These could be used as follow ups after reading a chapter, and a pre-cursor to class discussions.
To visit her youtube page, click here!
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