#5 in Graphic novels
El Deafo
- 248
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
- Newbery Honor
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Our view
Readers call “El Deafo” eye-opening: a funny, honest graphic memoir of growing up deaf. Cece Bell draws herself and everyone around her as rabbits, a wry choice for a book about hearing, and tells the story through a child’s eyes, including the trial and error of making friends. Parents of children with hearing loss are among its grateful readers.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
El Deafo is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Cece Bell. The book is a loose autobiographical account of Bell's childhood and life with her deafness. The characters in the book are all anthropomorphic rabbits. Cece Bell, in an interview with the Horn Book Magazine, states "What are bunnies known for? Big ears; excellent hearing," rendering her choice of characters and their deafness ironic.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.5 across 158 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 52% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Graphic novels average of 8.4. That is how 8.5 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.0 | 22 | 14% |
| Google Books | 9.0 | 31 | 20% |
| Hardcover | 8.5 | 105 | 67% |
Frequently asked
How long is El Deafo?
It has 248 pages — longer than 53% of the ranked books in Graphic novels.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Graphic novels — with scores between 8.2 and 8.5, closest to this book.
