As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns-popularity and anxiety about grades-along with other things more particular to her own life. Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.Īlyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. An author's note fleshes out Bell's story, including a discussion of the many facets of deafness and Deaf culture.

Readers will empathize with Cece as she tries to find friends who aren’t bossy or inconsiderate, and they’ll rejoice with her when she finally does. Her whimsical color illustrations (all the human characters have rabbit ears and faces), clear explanations and Cece’s often funny adventures help make the memoir accessible and entertaining. And being different feels a lot like being alone.” Bell ( Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover, 2012) shares her childhood experiences of being hearing impaired with warmth and sensitivity, exploiting the graphic format to amplify such details as misheard speech. Cece thinks, “Superheroes might be awesome, but they are also different. Cece’s new ability makes her feel like a superhero-just call her “El Deafo”-but the Phonic Ear is still hard to hide and uncomfortable to wear.

Her nifty new hearing aid, the Phonic Ear, allows her to hear her teacher clearly, even when her teacher is in another part of the school. After her family moves to a new town, Cece begins first grade at a school that doesn’t have separate classes for the deaf. Though she is fitted with a hearing aid and learns to read lips, it’s a challenging adjustment for her.

When Cece is 4 years old, she becomes “severely to profoundly” deaf after contracting meningitis. A humorous and touching graphic memoir about finding friendship and growing up deaf.