Book #44: El Deafo by Cece Bell
El Deafo by Cece Bell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a blind read on my Kindle, so I didn't realise at first that this was a graphic novel.
It's an autobiographical story of Cece Bell's childhood, starting when a bout of meningitis caused her to go deaf when she was four. The novel then tells of how she was given a "phonic ear" device that allows her to hear what her teacher was doing, in any part of the school.
The story tells about her attempts to find a good friend. She starts off becoming friends with a girl who turns out to be very controlling, and then objects to her having another friend, who is also too difficult, as she always talks to her loudly, and slowly.
She also ends up creating a superhero alter ego called "El Deafo", and fantasises about how she will respond to situations, and the alter ego ends up helping her with her own personal problems.
This novel seems to be aimed at kids, but I still enjoyed it a lot; I really enjoyed the artwork, and I got used to the style quickly (all characters seem to be some kind of human/rabbit hybrids). The portrayal of Cece losing her hearing is handled well, as characters' speech is shown suddenly getting fainter on the page. Overall, it seemed like a good way to educate kids on the struggles that people who are hard of hearing go through in their day-to-day lives.
I liked the way that the novel portrayed all of Cece's own insecurities, mostly her worries over her own relationships with her friends, particularly after an accident causes her best friend to start avoiding her. Definitely a recommended read.
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