El Deafo by Cece Bell is the autobiographical account of the author as a little girl after she contracted meningitis and became deaf. First point in this book's favor: The illustrations are absolutely delightful. If you were a fan of the Arthur cartoon growing up then you'll love her artistic style as it's very reminiscent of that. (The characters are all rabbits.) She focuses primarily on her experiences using the different hearing aid devices that she had growing up and how isolated it made her feel. Bell doesn't shy away from exploring her shame and 'otherness' in comparison to her family and friends which I think is refreshing in a middle grade book. The way that Cece ultimately copes with the changes and difficulties that she's experiencing is by creating an alternate persona where she uses her deafness as a superpower. (Check the picture below for an example.) I personally really loved the references of such classics as Batman (with Adam West) and one of my faves M*A*S*H. I don't know that younger readers will appreciate that as much but I thought it was a great touch. Included at the end of El Deafo is a little informational blurb about Deaf culture so if parents are reading with their kids (or teachers with their students) it makes a really awesome learning tool. I loved that kids are getting to see a character using a hearing device in a medium that is easily digestible and conveys the message that no matter what our abilities we are all 'super' in our own ways. 9/10

 

An example of the art writing style. [Source: Goodreads]

 

 

If you don't follow me on social media you may have been surprised/confused when I started posting a new review every day this week. I did this because I didn't want to play catch-up like I did earlier this year with books I've finished but not yet reviewed. However, I'm not seeing a ton of engagement in these posts so I want to get your opinion. Are you enjoying the more frequent posts or do you prefer once a week and you don't care when they go up? Please comment below with your thoughts! :-)

 

What's Up Next: Cici's Journal: The Adventures of a Writer-in-Training by Joris Chamblain with illustrations by Aurélie Neyret. 

What I'm Currently Reading: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

I was totally charmed by Wonderstruck because I went into it totally blind as to what it contained. I had a clue from the bolt of lightning on the front cover but even that was just a tiny portion of this stellar novel. The reader follows a boy on a journey from his small town into the bustling metropolis of New York City as he tries to find a clue to his origin story. Once again we are treated to detailed illustrations of not only the New York of the 1970s but of the 1920s as well. And a large part of the novel takes place in one of my favorite places in NYC: The American Museum of Natural History. There's a description of early museums and cabinets of curiosities (look out for a post in the future about this in more detail) which entrance as well as educate. Selznick explores Deaf culture, survival against all odds, and how we are all connected to one another. There is a grounding in true historical events which lends an extra dimension to the narrative. 10/10

 

Source: Brain Pickings

This is another read for my American Sign Language III class—I’ll admit, I’m a little bummed that I’ve hated everything we’ve read so far this year (especially since I love my teacher, but my teacher loves these books). I’m not really a huge fan of nonfiction to begin with, which I’m sure came into play when I was rating this book, but this is also extremely boring nonfiction. It’s poorly written—not because it doesn’t have great research and all that jazz, but because it fails in keeping the reader interested. Instead, it throws hypothetical questions at you and restates the same thing over and over again, to the point where you want to throw it across the room. Which I almost did—and only didn’t do because this is a classroom copy and I might have had to own up to the damage done.I almost gave this book two stars—almost. Because it is well written, in a technical sense, and the authors obviously know what they’re talking about. However, these ratings are about my personal enjoyment, and I just couldn’t stomach giving this anything more than what I felt it deserved—which was definitely a single star.Read more?http://thaliasbooks.tumblr.com/post/45473826142/inside-deaf-culture-review

Quite an interesting read.