A girl who loses her hearing imagines herself as a superhero thanks to her powerful hearing aid
Superpowers from a hearing aid
When Cece is four years old, a serious illness leaves her severely deaf. She has to learn to lip-read and to wear a bulky hearing aid, and when she starts at a new school she feels different from everyone around her. All she really wants is a true friend. This graphic memoir, in which all the characters are drawn as rabbits, tells the story of the author's own childhood.
Who will enjoy it
Readers aged about eight to twelve, and adults, who enjoy funny, honest graphic novels about friendship, school and being different.
What you will get
A funny, honest and warm graphic memoir about being different, finding true friendship and turning what makes you unusual into a strength.
El Deafo Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · Graphic memoir · Deafness · Friendship
Length
248 pages · ≈ 7 h
More about this book
At school Cece is given a hearing aid called the Phonic Ear, which picks up whatever her teacher says into a microphone. She soon discovers that she can hear her teacher anywhere in the building, even in the staff room and the bathroom, and she imagines herself as El Deafo, a caped superhero with the power to hear everything. This secret helps her cope, and later it even makes her popular with her classmates.
Much of the book is about friendship: a bossy friend who orders her around, a friend who talks too loudly and slowly because Cece is deaf, the joy of finally meeting a true best friend, and a crush on a boy next door. Cece also explains clearly how lip-reading works and why noisy places and films without captions are so hard. The bright, simple art makes the story easy to follow, and the tone is funny and honest about loneliness and embarrassment. It was later adapted as an animated series.
Warm, funny and eye-opening, a wonderful book for children and adults alike. About 248 pages in the Amulet paperback.
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