El Deafo

Adorable! And officially the first graphic novel I've ever read. It's certainly the first (Correct me if I'm wrong; I still have 20ish to go) graphic novel Newbery, which is cool. It created a bit of confusion when the call number read J GRAPHIC BELL (A new section in the library? A warning about content?!) and I didn't know where to find it. And even when I found the correct section (Oh, right! Graphic novels! That's a thing.), El Deafo was a tricky one to locate. I sent the children's librarian on a wild good chase all over the library before she finally returned in dismay and discovered it on display exactly where it should be in the graphic novels section (I'm sorry, is this your first time in a library?).

So my understanding of a graphic novel prior to last week was a long comic book that included words like "Bam" and "Pow" in large speech bubbles, black and white drawings of full-figured women in tight clothing, and a very specific font.



El Deafo properly challenged my graphic novel ignorance. Cece Bell tells and illustrates the autobiographical tale of her meningitic hearing loss at age four and the ensuing social discomforts of being nearly deaf and wearing a large hearing aid around her neck through elementary school. Cece is an adorable heroine (not full figured and, while she does love wearing her bathing suit, she generally avoids tight clothing to hide her giant hearing aid) with funny insights, genuine feelings and relationships, and a creative imagination. And there wasn't a single "Bam" or "Pow" in the whole book.

"Our differences are our superpowers."  -Cece Bell