And in my mind it was, because I felt very embarrassed and self-conscious to be wearing all this equipment and to be different from everybody.īut because the Phonic Ear kind of gave me these superpowers - just like Bruce Wayne has to wear all that technology on his belt and turns into Batman - I had this awesome piece of technology on my chest that turned me in to El Deafo, this great superhero.We see Cece come of age in this book, and her story follows a standard plot arc of the coming-of-age narrative. So I had a lot of power, and it was awesome.Īt home, was more of a disability.

This hearing aid worked with a teacher's microphone, and basically the microphone amplified my teacher's voice and made it really clear, really loud, just for me.Īnd soon after I got outfitted with it, I discovered that not only was I hearing her wherever she was in the classroom, but I could hear her wherever she was in the entire school building. I wore it strapped onto my chest, and I had cords with earpieces that went up to my ears. The Phonic Ear was a big bulky hearing aid. How?Ībout her hearing aid, the Phonic Ear, and the book's title El Deafo Your purchase helps support NPR programming. When asked why it took her so long to put her own story onto paper, Cece explained that she just wasn't ready yet.Ĭlose overlay Buy Featured Book Title El Deafo Author Cece Bell and David Lasky 'You have a good voice too, and that helps,' she told him with a laugh.

Like her character in the book, Bell in can lip-read - as long as Rath's microphone was out of her line of sight. It's a funny, unsentimental tale that follows Cece from age 4 through elementary school, as she transforms from mild-mannered little girl into full-fledged superhero - the 'El Deafo' of the title.īell sat down for an interview with NPR's Arun Rath, where the two talked about her story, her art style and more. The book, a mix of memoir, graphic novel and children's book, is called El Deafo. Writer and illustrator Cece Bell has been creating children's books for over a decade, but in her latest, she finally turns to her own story - about growing up hearing-impaired, after meningitis left her 'severely to profoundly deaf' at the age of 4.

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