LibGuides: Summer Reading 2024: Discovering Deaf Culture: Middle School Read: El Deafo

Middle School Read: El Deafo, by Cece Bell

El Deafo: Superpowered Edition! by Cece Bell
ISBN: 9781419748318
Publication Date: 2020-10-13
Cece loses her hearing from spinal meningitis as a young child. In this graphic memoir she takes readers through the arduous journey of learning to lip read and decipher the noise of her hearing aid, with the goal of finding a true friend.

This special edition has 40 pages of all-new material: childhood photographs, early sketches, and notes from Cece. Included is an honest and revealing afterword, which addresses the author's early decision not to learn ASL, her more mature appreciation for the language, and her adage, "Our differences are our superpowers."

What's the book about?

What does it take for a student with hearing loss and a hearing aid to become a superhero?

Starting at a new school is scary, especially with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece’s class was deaf. Here, she’s different. She’s sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.

Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom but anywhere her teacher is in the school—in the hallway . . . in the teacher’s lounge . . . in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All.

But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it’s just another way of feeling different . . . and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?

"This warmly and humorously illustrated full-color graphic novel set in the suburban ‘70s has all the gripping characters and inflated melodrama of late childhood: a crush on a neighborhood boy, the bossy friend, the too-sensitive-to-her-Deafness friend, and the perfect friend, scared away." School Library Journal, starred review

There are other ways to experience the book - on Kindle or on a full-cast recording audiobook - see the box to the right.

Author Cece Bell Talks About Her Book, 'El Deafo'

NPR Interview: 'El Deafo': How A Girl Turned Her Disability Into A Superpower

'El Deafo': How A Girl Turned Her Disability Into A Superpower
An interview of Cece Bell on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, recorded in December 2014 shortly after El Deafo was published. Bell sat down for an interview with NPR's Arun Rath, where the two talked about her story, her art style and more. Like her character in the book, Bell in can lip-read — as long as Rath's microphone was out of her line of sight. "You have a good voice too, and that helps," she told him with a laugh. "No mustaches or beards."

What are some other ways to read or listen to the book?

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Kindle Edition

Available on Amazon

El Deafo, by Cece Bell on Audible.com

Narrated by: Sarah Tubert, Lexi Finigan, Jennifer Aquino, Fred Berman, Bailey Carr, Nicky Endres, Matt Godfrey, Avi Roque, Sanya Simmons

Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins

Winner of the American Library Association’s 2024 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production! The Newbery Honor-winning graphic novel, adapted for audio with a full cast and sound effects.

El Deafo, by Cece Bell on Libro.fm

Narrated by: Sarah Tubert, Lexi Finigan, Jennifer Aquino, Fred Berman, Bailey Carr, Nicky Endres, Matt Godfrey, Avi Roque, Sanya Simmons

Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins