Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That, sadly, is how I felt last night after finishing Cece Bell’s El Deafo.  Which was doubly sad, because not only was I disappointed in one of this year’s three Newberys, but I was disappointed by the ending after being impressed by most of the book.  And THAT was made worse by the fact that I wasn’t expecting to be impressed by the book at all; graphic novels are not so much my thing, and I’m still bothered that they couldn’t find ONE traditional novel to add to this year’s Newbery winners.  (You understand that I’m not talking about taking any awards away, but for Pete’s sake–they could have just picked a third (or fourth!) Honor book.)

Anyway.  The premise of El Deafo is relatively simple; it’s based on the author’s own experiences of growing up mostly deaf after an illness.  The main character spends a year in a school with others like her, learning the basics of lip reading (among other things), and then heads to a regular public school with a “Phonic Ear” (a hearing aid that picks up her teacher’s voice through a microphone the teacher wears).  She soon discovers that she can hear more than she’s intended to hear through her Phonic Ear, but that only serves as a distraction from her main problem–social acceptance.  She is acutely embarrassed by her hearing aid and cannot bring herself to reach out to anyone around her, let alone talk about her hearing, and so she ends up with friends that treat her differently than she would prefer.  As an adult, of course, you wish she’d just SAY SOMETHING, but I still remember how hard it was to say the important things when I was that age.  Bell does a nice job of taking us through Cece’s friendship blunders, and the graphic novel format actually adds to the effectiveness here, which is not something I ever thought I’d say. For two hundred plus pages, then, the book impressed me.

What disappointed me, however, was the ending.  The story finds resolution in two ways, really, and I was happy with one of those ways–just not with the other.  Both the parent and the teacher in me found the second way undesirable, and the former student in me was left wondering if the situation was really as positive as the author presents it to be.  (I don’t know that I can be more specific without giving definite spoilers.)  It is possible that Bells recognizes some of what I ended up feeling, since she seems to do her best to end that part of the resolution on sort of a neutral note, but I’m not sure how much better that makes me feel.  Like I said–I was impressed by most of the book, but ultimately disappointed.  Take from that what you will.