Aloha BookWorms! As always its Camila here, and today I’ll be reviewing the heartfelt, funny book by great graphic novelist, Cece Bell.
El Deafo is a graphic novel autobiography about the challenges and the good parts of growing up deaf.
In El Deafo, Cece makes up an alternate superhero identity for herself after she discovers that even though she dislikes the bulk of her hearing aid it gives her the ability to listen to whatever the person wearing the complimentary microphone says or does. This leads to some hilarious instances, like when her teacher goes to use the restroom.
In first grade, Cece finds it hard to make friends, because no one else has a hearing aid and she thinks that everyone is staring at her. So it comes as a big surprise when a girl named Laura offers her fritos and “compliments” her by saying
“My name is Laura, you know? And that’s a prettier name then your name. Hey, lets be best friends!!
Cece agrees, because not only did Laura give her chips, but she doesn’t seem to care about her hearing aid! Cece has fun hanging out with Laura, they go to Girl Scouts, they have sleepovers, they even pretend they’re twins wearing the same clothes over…and over. With third grade looming ahead Cece secretly hopes that she’s in a different class than Laura, she gets her wish but now she doesn’t really know anyone.
This story is such a great read and it shows how powerful true friendship can be, you just have to find the right people first.
This book is perfect for a younger audience, teaching kids self-confidence, no matter what the circumstances are, so I’d say 8+ is a good age to read it, but you can enjoy this book at all ages.
Now, for my postly “how would you describe this book in 3-4 words
Funny, enjoyable, touching, and smart
Have fun,
Camila 🙂
BookWorm 