El Deafo by Cece Bell

Look at that! A graphic novel with a Newbery! That doesn't happen often, but El Deafo definitely deserved it. 

A great way for even the youngest readers to understand deafness with a lot of humor and relate-able growing pains thrown in. 

Using a personified bunny as a character, Cece Bell tells her autobiography. The bunny works to make it more accessible to kids. If it was super realistic, some of these things would be a bit scary. 

Here, Cece develops meningitis, is taken to a hospital where all kinds of scary tests and treatments are done. 

Despite the treatment, Cece loses her hearing. 

They don't notice this right away until Cece panics when her mother is not in the room. Her mother comes running and despite her calling out for Cece, Cece is running to look for her mother in a different direction because she can't hear her mother calling. 

Hearing tests....

So then she gets hearing aids. Mind you, this was in the 1970's, so there was none of this "No one will even notice them!" nonsense. EVERYone will notice the things in her ears that are attached to the pouch on her front. 

Eventually she can hide her hearing aid under her clothes, but even with the assistance, communication with other people is a minefield of misunderstanding. 

At first, Cece goes to a school for other people with hearing difficulty. Other kids with bionic ears.

Cece being a detective trying to discern what people are saying through non-verbal cues since the audio she hears is so jumbled up. Such a great way to help young kids understand hearing problems. 

Some things that make life difficult....

At her school, she feels like she is still alone in her own little world due to her hearing limitations, but at least everyone else is in the same boat or universe. 

But then they move.... And there is a whole new neighborhood with kids who don't know she has hearing issues. 

A close up of all the parts of the Phonic Ear that she got. 

At her new school, with her Phonic Ear, the teacher wears a little microphone so Cece can hear clearly. This leads to Cece hearing what the teacher is doing in the hallway, bathroom, and teacher's lounge better than anyone else in her class. 

She can even hear her teacher use the bathroom. 

Tada! A superhero is born!

But what to call herself?

One night, while watching television, someone refers to someone else as el deafo. Her brother and sister think she will be upset, but she isn't. Because she just discovered her superhero name, thank you very much. 

The trials of sleepovers when the light goes out. The insecurities and uncertainties of these situations are heightened to an unbearable point. 

But through all of that, she was El Deafo! 

A picture of Cece in her elementary days and her Phonic Ear.