Welcome to Litsy!

“Our differences are our superpowers.“

This book is ideal for talking about empathy and inclusivity. Students can discuss or write about a time they felt different or misunderstood.

This graphic memoir follows Cece, who becomes deaf at a young age and learns to navigate life with a Phonic Ear hearing aid, creating her superhero alter ego, El Deafo.

#middlegrademonday @Karisimo

Such a good book!

“I can‘t hear everything, but I can hear some things, and that‘s pretty great!“
I love this quote because it perfectly encapsulates Cece's positive attitude and her ability to focus on what she can do rather than what she cannot. It highlights the importance of gratitude and finding joy in one's abilities, regardless of limitations.

A significant moment in El Deafo occurs when Cece Bell, as a child, receives her first hearing aid and discovers her unique superpower: the ability to hear and understand others in a way that sets her apart. This realization empowers her to embrace her identity as a person with hearing loss and inspires her to see herself as a superhero, “El Deafo.“

In this graphic novel memoir, Cece Bell shares her experiences of growing up with a severe hearing loss. With humor and heart, Bell takes readers through her struggles, friendships, and identity formation as a deaf person. It's both relatable and inspiring for young readers.

“Being deaf is my superpower.”

"El Deafo" can be used in the classroom to foster discussions about diversity, inclusion, and the importance of understanding different perspectives. It encourages students to embrace their differences and promotes empathy through shared storytelling.

This is a charming graphic novel that shares the author‘s childhood experiences growing up deaf. Through illustrations and a relatable narrative, Cece navigates the challenges of school, friendships, and her unique hearing aid, which she imagines as her superpower. The story highlights themes of acceptance and understanding, making it both educational and entertaining. Readers will connect with Cece's journey of finding her voice and confidence.

“Being different is what makes us special.“

Cece Bell shares her experience growing up with hearing loss and the superpower she found in her hearing aid.

This heartfelt graphic memoir combines humor and authenticity, teaching kids about friendship and acceptance.

#graphicnovel #ittakesallkinds @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

4/5 ⭐️s
this personal story tackles a serious subject and a difficult set of circumstances with humor and bravery. I appreciated how the author depicted her disability as both a superpower and something difficult and frustrating (as someone with disabilities, this was very relatable for me!). graphic novels really work well for educational purposes/memoir, and this is probably my favorite one that I have read thus far.

A friend from bookclub has been wanting me to read this for a while now. It‘s a great middle grades graphic novel to highlight deafness or really any disability. It touches a lot on feelings and being different from your peers. #ReadHarder23 ~a graphic novel that represents disabilities
#Pop23 ~a book with a rabbit on the cover

What a great middle grade graphic novel!
Cici got meningitis when she was 4, and lost most of her hearing. This is her story of adapting to hearing aids and growing her self confidence and self acceptance until fifth grade.
Based on the author‘s own childhood.

Pictured with the somewhat elusive Igor, who came out from under his covers to watch a bug that got in the house.

An earnest window into the personal experience of a deaf child, I also found it a bit of a cultural artefact as it is relating memories of a childhood in the 1970s. The art is sweet, and there are literal warm fuzzies! Also fully identify with Batman being the favoured superhero of my formative years. An engaging lesson in empathy. Highly recommended, don't forget the Author's Note in the back!

#StoryGraph: nonfiction graphic novel memoir middle grade funny hopeful informative fast-paced
|first published 2014

Starting at a new school is scary, especially with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here, she's different. She's sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.

Today was Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character at school & my daughter wanted to be El Deafo!!! This book is a household favorite & it was a pleasure to make this happen!!!

This has been on my list forever so I‘m glad I finally read it. It‘s excellent and I highly recommend it!

Cece Bell‘s life changed drastically when at 4 years old, meningitis left her hearing severely impaired. In this graphic novel memoir, she shares how she felt during her elementary school years, how she embraced her differences. She chose not to learn to sign, and had to wear a big hearing aid to school, making her feel embarrassed and worried at first, but soon learnt it became her ‘superpower‘.

I loved this book. Even being animals I felt pulled in and was emotionally attached. I really liked the end when the author explains how this is not a book that explains all deaf people‘s feelings but mine as a child.

Read as part of the @DeweysReadathon #deweys24hourreadathon Pre-game and for a prompt for @bookriot #readharderchallenge2021 😊 An interesting and insightful, the 2nd book this month I have read about Deaf culture 😊 4/5

I enjoyed this. This is a story meant for kids. There were a lot of up and down emotions in this one, and she sprinkled in some humour at times, as well.

El Deafo! The Superhero for the hearing impaired! This book was great. It really gave an honest at how CeCe felt growing up deaf and how she handled it. I hope everyone recommends it to all the kids they know - and adults! It was witty, empathetic, the graphics were great, and CeCe Bell is married to Tom Angleberger! I‘m sure they make an outstanding team. #100YEARS100BOOKS #BookSpinBingo #11 #MGMarch book #19!

I read my first graphic novel. Nope, not kidding. ☺

Based on the author's childhood experiences with her phonic ear, this was heartwarming & educational. I imagine that this is being read, in a lot of school classrooms, much like Wonder.

⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Love this graphic novel. It brings to mind the special people in my life who are hard of hearing: Nicholas, when he received his cochlear implant I had a special microphone and I would sing, "Hello Darling, it's nice to see you." I was blessed to teach him for 2 years. He died of methane poisoning when he was in 6th grade. His father was not sober on a cold night and he left the generator going on the inside of the house. He would've been 20.

I love how this book captures what her childhood was like, the way she felt. As a hearing person, I will never understand how isolating deafness can be, so this book can really be an eye opener into how people's differences can make them feel alone.

#sundayfunday
@ozma.of.oz

1: oh, of course! Graphic novels have to structure the plot differently, because they‘re just one large installation instead of several short ones.
2: damn this is an awesome book
3: stylized. If you knew me irl you‘d know I love anime.

I read this on Kindle so I missed out on David Lasky's colors, but even in black-and-white, it's a lovely story. My son and I read it together, and despite some cringing I did seeing some of my own gaffes on the pages, I liked how it opened up conversation between us and helped give us both a different perspective on deafness, on disability vs difference, and on our interactions with deaf relatives and friends.

#bookspinbingo

"I was a regular little kid."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

I love a good medically topical nonfiction book, and while they don‘t always include disability, it‘s not uncommon. Here are a few.

Tagged book
Fire in my Eyes by Brad Snyder
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Life Disrupted by Laurie Edwards (also In the Kingdom of the Sick, same author)
Battle for Grace by Cynthia Touissant
The Last Best Cure by Donna Jackson Nakazawa
How to be Sick by Toni Bernhard
Waking by Matthew Sanford

#integrateyourshelf

Looking forward to seeing everyone‘s posts on this one as I definitely want to expand my reading in this area.

The two that come to mind are the tagged graphic novel and Jenny Lawson‘s Furiously Happy both of which I loved.

I‘ve heard good things about Disability Visibility and have added to my groaning TBR.

#IntegrateYourshelf #DisabilityAwarenessMonth

Have not read a graphic novel in ages, so I chose this one for the #ReadWithMrBook prompt #BooksAndDisabilities. And I liked it. It was heartwarming and easy going.

At four years old, a childhood illness results in Cece losing her hearing. This is her fictionalised memoir of growing up in the 70s/80s, wearing a large ‘phonic ear‘ to school, not wanting to be treated differently, struggling to make friends and taking refuge in the superpowers of her alter-ego ‘El Deafo‘.

It‘s a sweet, optimistic story - totally recommended.

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL7e4HZQOdM

Enjoy!

It‘s fine I just WEPT my way through this cute #ownvoices MG graphic memoir about the author growing up after losing her hearing. Bell writes movingly about the experience of deafness as a child and contextualizes her experience in a great author‘s note at the end. I learned a lot and want to save this to share with my kids one day. #BBRC ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Book 3/12 for #bfc28

Is anyone else doing the #BookRiot 2020 #ReadHarder challenge? I love the podcast they do for Book Riot Insiders about the challenge, and the first one of 2020 made me want to jump in & recommend one of my favorite #YANonFiction reads, as well as note which books I've checked out to satisfy this prompt for my Reading Harder self. 😄

The tagged book is an amazing graphic memoir for young adult/middle grade readers. Highly recommend!

When i finally finder her, I know that everything is different. I think she knows too.