El Deafo

“When I finally find her, I know that everything is different. I think she knows it too.” 

When Cece can’t hear her mother call for her, Cece realizes at a young age that she has a hearing impairment. This comes after a battle with meningitis. This passage is significant because it speaks to the severity of Cece’s hearing impairment and her realization, even at a young age, that her life will be dramatically different because she is deaf. This is the foundation of the story, and of Cece’s growth as a character. 

“Just because I can’t hear good, doesn’t mean I can’t look good.” 

Young Cece loves style and wears a bathing suit everywhere she goes. She struggles to feel beautiful after receiving her hearing aids, however, because they have cords that dangle down from her ears. She feels different than other children, and thus unattractive. This is only the beginning of her struggle to find a place for herself in the world as a young girl with a disability. 

“An amazing thing happens inside the booth: I hear a beep! It’s the first sound I’ve heard since the hospital.” 

In this passage, Cece visits the audiologist and is fitted for hearing aids. This moment, in which Cece finally hears something, is miraculous and speaks to the alienation and isolation she feels because of her deafness. Since becoming deaf, she has been isolated from the outside world. With the fitting of her hearing aids, she can finally reconnect, though she continues to struggle with feeling alienated because she looks and behaves differently than other children as a result of her disability.