El Deafo

Book:  El Deafo (Book Link)
Author: Cece Bell (Author Link)
Illustrator: Cece Bell (Illustrator Link)
Publisher: Amulet Books Publishing
Date of Publication: 2014
Genre: Graphic Novel, Written in the last 4 years, Diverse Protagonists
Lexile Score:Unavailable - Intended for ages 8-12
Citation: Bell, C. (2014). El Deafo. New York, NY: Amulet Books.
Online: https://www.overdrive.com/media/1883393/el-deafo

Summary: In the book the main character Cece loses her hearing when she gets meningitis.  She has to then wear a visible hearing aid at school, and is very self conscious of it.  When she is at school she has a hard time fitting in, and most characters don't know how to interact with her.  It isn't until she attends a separate class where everyone is like her.  She then comes up with an alter ego named El Deafo, where she is no longer scared of anything.  This alter ego helps her makes friends and stand up to bullies.  She eventually ends up making friends, and finding love all while being herself. 

Audience:  I would say this book would be targeted at grades fifth through eighth.  In these grades they might be dealing with issues of acceptance.  They are trying to find where they fit in, and this book might connect with them.  Also since the book is a graphic novel it makes it an easy read, where they don't feel like they are reading a text book. 

Evaluation:  I think this has many features that make it a high quality graphic novel.  First off the layout of the text was very easy to follow.  The flow of the text page to page made it easy to read quickly.  It also has give a clear depiction of what someone with a hearing problem might face.  For example it shows how Cece is feeling, and how those around her react to her having a hearing aid.  The book does a great job of showing how she is feeling and how it is hard for her to deal with particular situations.

Activity:  Feelings Literacy Bingo:  For this activity the child will be given a blank bingo grid.  In each square they will write out the different emotions and then an example where that emotion is seen in the book.  Then after all the squares are filled, the game can begin.  If this was done in a classroom setting when the emotion was called they could mark the square and then get an opportunity to share their emotion examples from the book.