Meet the author

Cece Bell.

Writer & illustrator · United States · b. 1970

Cece Bell: Newbery-Honor American author-illustrator behind El Deafo — the autobiographical middle-grade graphic novel about childhood with hearing loss, for ages 8–12.

Cece Bell is an American author-illustrator born in 1970, best known for El Deafo (2014, Newbery Honor), the autobiographical middle-grade graphic novel about her childhood with hearing loss and her experience as a young deaf girl wearing a Phonic Ear. El Deafo is widely taught in US schools and is a fixture of inclusive-shelf curation. Bell has also written and illustrated picture books (Rabbit & Robot, Itty Bitty) and other middle-grade graphic novels. Her style is character-driven, warm and accessible. A core contemporary American middle-grade graphic-novel author for ages 8–12, particularly important to disability-aware reading shelves.