Book Review: El Deafo by Cece Bell

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Title: El Deafo
Author: Cece Bell
Illustrators: Cece Bell and David Lasky
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication Date: September 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-1419710209

PLOT SUMMARY
This autobiographical graphic novel about author Cece Bell's childhood begins at age four when she is diagnosed with meningitis and loses her hearing. The story portrays her experiences up through the fifth grade, and the struggles she experienced with school and forming friendships. At school, Bell wears a large and uncomfortable device under her clothing called a phonic ear and her teachers must wear a microphone that wirelessly connects to it. This is a source of embarrassment and anxiety for her. She is unable to understand television, and one day her siblings uncomfortably explain that a deaf character on TV was derisively mocked as "El Deafo." Bell, however, finds this hilarious and often imagines herself as a superhero named El Deafo, who says and does the things she wished she did to kids that make her feel bad. The book ends with an afterword from the author, in which she explains the deaf culture and her refusal to learn American Sign Language. Her author's portrait is a childhood yearbook photo of her, where you can see the cords connecting to her phonic ear.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Bell's story is a refreshing "own voices" take on the last decade's trend of autobiographical graphic novels about childhood experiences. Bell portrays the characters as rabbits, a visual metaphor for her experience (Bell, 2015). Despite that portrayal and the fantastical elements of Bell's imagination as a superhero, the book itself is a contemporary realistic graphic novel. It centers on her childhood experiences at school, and the shame she feels about her deafness. While her situation is unique to the average child, her emotional struggle with feeling different is one that all children can relate to.

The plot itself is not especially exciting, but the significance is in Bell's emotional growth and her overcoming the embarrassment of her deafness and the devices she must wear. This culminates in the fifth grade when she opens up to Mike, the neighborhood boy she has a crush on, and tells him about her phonic ear. When someone wears the microphone, she can hear where they are at. Mike's experiments with the microphone help Bell open up to other neighborhood children and classmates about her deafness. This results in a classroom using the microphone to horse around while their teacher goes on a break, sitting at their desks before she returns. A classroom craft activity with the guidance counselor ends with Bell receiving a bag full off positive "warm fuzzies" from her classmates, inspiring her to reconnect with her best friend. Parents might not like the message of Bell using her microphone to misbehave, but they forget that all children misbehave a little and have fun. The scene itself does not come off as a "bad egg influencing a good apple" situation; rather, it is a silly and fun scene of Bell joining in with her classmates and does not moralize their behavior.

Other than a few references to pop culture, the book itself is seemingly contemporary and easy to recognize in any modern time period. Bell's personal experience avoids the stereotypes of being deaf and hard of hearing, and even illustrates her resistance to learning American Sign Language. This is explained further in her afterword, where she explains the deaf culture and the variety within it. Bell is a children's book illustrator, and despite the serious feelings and topics in the book, her whimsical illustration and writing style create a fun and light-hearted story of children being children.

AWARDS
2015 Newbery Honor Book
2015 ALSC Notable Children's Books list
2015 YALSA's Great Graphic Novels for Teens
2014 Kirkus Prize Finalist

REVIEW EXCERPTS
"A humorous and touching graphic memoir about finding friendship and growing up deaf." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Bell’s book should be an inspiration for those who are “different,” and it should help others to understand just what being different means. Required reading isn’t always fun reading. “El Deafo” should be the first and is definitely the second." - The New York Times Book Review

"This memoir is thus exceptionally informative and entertaining in relation to some aspects of deaf communication, but, most centrally and powerfully, it is exceptional for its perceptive, indomitable protagonist and complex story of friendship, growth, and classroom and family dynamics." - The Horn Book, starred review

"Bell’s earnest rabbit/human characters, her ability to capture her own sonic universe... and her invention of an alter ego—the cape-wearing El Deafo, who gets her through stressful encounters... all combine to make this a standout autobiography. Cece’s predilection for bursting into tears at the wrong time belies a gift for resilience that makes her someone readers will enjoy getting to know." - Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Bell’s bold and blocky full-color cartoons perfectly complement her childhood stories—she often struggles to fit in and sometimes experiences bullying, but the cheerful illustrations promise a sunny future." - Booklist

"Bell tells it all: the joy of removing her hearing aid in summer, the troubles watching the TV when the actor turns his back, and the agony of slumber party chats in the dark. Included is an honest and revealing afterword, which addresses the author's early decision not to learn ASL, her more mature appreciation for the language, and her adage that, "Our differences are our superpowers." - School Library Journal, starred review

CONNECTIONS
Enrichment activities: Librarians can share videos from Cece Bell's YouTube page, where she posts a new video every week answering reader questions and discusses each chapter of the book (Bell, 2020).

The publisher also offers a teaching guide for questions and activities that can be used across curriculums, and a video of Cece Bell discussing the book and showing her old phonic ear that she used in school (Abrams Books, n.d.).
Related books:
Hale, S., & Pham, L. (2017). Real Friends. First Second.
ISBN: 978-1626724167

Jamieson, V. (2015). Roller Girl. Dial Books.
ISBN: 978-0525429678

Telgemeier, R. (2010). Smile. Graphix.
ISBN: 978-0545132053

Telgemeier, R. (2014). Sisters. Graphix.
ISBN: 978-0545540599

Telgemeier, R. (2019). Guts. Graphix.
ISBN: 978-0545852517

REFERENCES
Abrams Books (n.d.). El Deafo by Cece Bell. https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/el-deafo_9781419712173/

Bell, C. (2015, August 4). Cece Bell: How I made El Deafo - in pictures. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/aug/04/cece-bell-el-deafo-in-pictures

Bell, C. (2020, April 20). Cece Bell. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqumqDfE9869Kow_Kygavcg

Book Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Title: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1442408937 (2014 reprint edition)

PLOT SUMMARY
In the summer of 1987, two Mexican-American teenage boys named after philosophers, Aristotle and Dante, form a deep friendship. It begins with Dante teaching Aristotle, who goes by Ari, how to swim that summer. Ari is a loner, who despairs over his relationship with his parents; his father is distant due to his post-traumatic stress after serving in the Vietnam War, and both parents do not talk about Ari's imprisoned older brother. The relationship between Ari and Dante grows into a lifelong friendship with their families when Ari pushes Dante out of the path of a swerving car, breaking both of his legs and an arm. Before the end of the summer, Dante confesses his love to Ari, who does not return it. Dante and his family move to Chicago for his father's short-term position at a university. Both boys experience life in their own ways, keeping in touch through writing letters. Ari's relationship with his father grows as his father slowly opens up to him., and Ari learns more about his family, including an aunt who had been ostracized from their relatives because she lived with a woman. When Dante returns, despite their new experiences and their developing personalities, the friendship returns where it left off. After Dante is hospitalized after a gay-bashing incident, Ari seeks out one of his attackers and breaks his nose. This violent outburst prompts his parents to finally open up about his brother, who is in prison for beating two people to death. This outburst also brings about the revelation that Ari does have romantic feelings for Dante, ending with him requiting that love.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The plot of the book is relatively mundane, aside from the car accident and Ari's violent outburst. This is because Ari's emotional growth is more significant to the plot, portraying the swirling emotions of love, hate, despair, and confusion that he experiences. The mundaneness of this plot is believable, though—it is rare for anything truly dramatic or exciting to happen in everyday life, and those two moments in the plot serve to keep the reader turning the pages to find out what happens next. The conclusion of the book was expected and inevitable, but how it was going to happen was not obvious. Ari does not confess his love to Dante until page 352 out of 359, which is realized after his parents help him discover this.

The dialogue between the parents and their children are believable, with the parents often remarking on their children that they are smart alecks. This dialogue was also refreshing, as it truly portrayed the boys as humans having conversations with their parents. It often seems that parents in young adult books serve as rule-setters only. The dialogue between Ari and Dante is a quick back-and-forth, pinging off each other like best friends do.

Despite the fact that this book takes place in 1987, the book itself is contemporary and could easily take place in 2020. The only difference would be the use of cell phones as opposed to landline phones and letters. There are few references to the culture of the time, keeping it feeling contemporary. Even the description and details of the place, El Paso, Texas, are sparse. Other than the description of a nearby desert, it can be easy for readers to imagine the story anywhere.

There are landmarks of growing up into adulthood, or as cleverly titled as "discovering the secrets of the universe." There is no moralizing over the behavior of teens, who date, experiment with their sexuality, drink, and take drugs. Even the parents, while they have rules, do understand that their teenagers will experiment. The story will personally resonate with the complicated emotions of teens, whether or not their own personal experiences are reflected in the book.

The book avoids both Mexican and gay stereotypes, and very little cultural markers are present, with the rare occurrence of Ari using a Spanish word. While the gay-bashing incident may seem stereotypical, it is believable to the time and setting.

AWARDS
2013 Pura Belpé Medal
2013 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book
2013 ALA Stonewall Book Award - Mike Morgan and Larry Roman's Children's and Young Adult Literature Award
2013 ALSC Notable Children's Books list
2013 YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adult - Top Ten
2013 ALA's Rainbow List

2012 Lambda Literary Award for Children's/Young Adult


REVIEW EXCERPTS
"Meticulous pacing and finely nuanced characters underpin the author's gift for affecting prose that illuminates the struggles within relationships." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"It’s a tender, honest exploration of identity and sexuality, and a passionate reminder that love—whether romantic or familial—should be open, free, and without shame." - Publishers Weekly, starred review

"While this novel is a bit too literary at times for some readers, its authentic teen and Latino dialogue should make it a popular choice." - School Library Journal, starred review

"This moves at a slower pace than many YA novels, but patient readers, and those struggling with their own sexuality, may find it to be a thought-provoking read." - Booklist

"Sáenz has written the greater love story, for his is the story of loving one’s self, of love between parents and children, and of the love that builds communities, in addition to the deepening love between two friends." - Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

CONNECTIONS

Enrichment activities: If the librarian has a reading club with teens, they can use a reading group guide from the publisher for discussion questions (Simon & Schuster, n.d.).

Related books:
Sáenz, B. A. (2017). The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. Clarion Books.
ISBN: 978-0544586505

Deaver, M. (2019). I Wish You All the Best. Push.
ISBN: 978-1338306125

Lee, M. (2017). The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. Katherine Tegen Books.
ISBN: 978-0062382801

Rowell, R. (2015). Carry On (reprint edition). Wednesday Books.
ISBN: 978-1250135025

Silvera, A. (2017). They Both Die at the End. Quill Tree Books.
ISBN: 978-0062457790

REFERENCES
Simon & Schuster. (n.d.). Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Aristotle-and-Dante-Discover-the-Secrets-of-the-Universe/Benjamin-Alire-Saenz/9781442408937