BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSCece Bell is an ordinary four-year-old, playing with her mom's stuff and singing along to the radio, until a sudden illness lands her in the hospital and leaves her completely deaf. She gets her first hearing aid, relearns how to understand people, and spends a year in a small classroom made up entirely of deaf kids before her family moves to a small town in Virginia. Starting first grade there means wearing a bulky, chest-worn hearing aid called the Phonic Ear, hidden under her shirt, among kids who have never met anyone like her. She quickly discovers a strange side effect: the device lets her hear her teacher's voice anywhere in the building, even in the bathroom, and she starts to wonder if that makes her some kind of superhero. Between a bossy best friend, a chatty new neighbor named Martha, and a boy down the street she can't stop thinking about, Cece spends the rest of elementary school figuring out how to be different without being lonely.
Free Battle of the Books questions for El Deafo
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about El Deafo. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a girl collapse while singing about a yellow submarine?
✓ Answer
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Cece is a regular little kid who plays with her mom's stuff and sings Beatles songs, right up until meningitis hits her at age four. The song trailing off into smaller and smaller letters is how the book shows her getting sick, and it is the last moment before everything changes.
- First half
In what book does a girl pray for a different teacher than her best friend?
✓ Answer
El Deafo by Cece Bell
The night before third grade starts, Cece asks for a new friend and for a little distance from bossy Laura. She gets Mrs. Ikleberry while Laura gets Mrs. Blair, but she quickly realizes she has spent so much time with Laura that she knows nobody else.
- First half
In what book does a girl dodge a makeover by claiming makeup ruins hearing aids?
✓ Answer
El Deafo by Cece Bell
The girls at Ginny's party decide Cece is cute but could be cuter, and they will not take no for an answer. When one of them wonders aloud whether the two things can mix, Cece invents an answer on the spot and gets herself off the hook.
- Second half
In what book does a girl secretly switch off her hearing aids at a sleepover to get some quiet?
✓ Answer
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Martha will not stop talking and Cece is exhausted, so she clicks her aids off and enjoys the silence until a tap on the shoulder wakes her. Cece is sure she has ruined everything, and instead she learns Martha has known all along and never cared.
- Second half
In what book does a mom soften the news of a zero with a cherry snack pie?
✓ Answer
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Mom already ran into Mrs. Sinklemann at the Green Market and bought the pie on her way home. Instead of being angry she believes Cece's side of the story and decides her daughter needs her eyes checked.
- Near the end
In what book does a father come home from a conference with a wrapped up curly pencil?
✓ Answer
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Cece hopes the present is a replacement for her broken hearing equipment, and it turns out to be a spiral novelty pencil instead. She loves it anyway and finishes her homework with it, even though the curls make writing take forever.
