El Deafo

Bell, C. (2014). El Deafo. NY:Abrams. Cece was a normal four year old until the day she became sick with meningitis. Her whole life changed when her sickness left her deaf. She was attending a school for the deaf until her parents move to a small town. In her new school there isn't any classes for deaf kids so she forced to be in a regular classroom. All Cece wants is a friend that she can count on. Cece learns to cope with her disability with the Phonic Ear that allows her to become El Deafo. One strength I found while reading this book is that Cece doesn't let her disability hold her back from trying to make friends. She goes through several friends until she finds a true friend in Martha. Cece gets hurt while playing with Martha and because of this Martha holds herself responsible and keeps her distance until Cece makes her realize it wasn't her fault. If my students enjoyed this graphic comic I would recommend Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust written by Loic Dauvillier. This too is a graphic comic about the struggles of a little girl.  I would also recommend other books written by Bell such as Rabbit and Robot. After reading this book I learned that having a disability can't hold you back unless you allow it to. Cece found a way to deal with her deafness by becoming El Deafo and becoming a hero to her classmates by letting them know when the teacher was coming back into the classroom.