A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
4 out of 5 stars
Quick Overview:
Thirteen-year-old Mia Winchell appears to be the most normal kid in
her family. Her younger brother Zack keeps a chart of all the McDonald's
hamburgers he's eaten in his lifetime. Her older sister Beth dyes her
hair a different color every week and might be a witch. But Mia knows
she is far from ordinary. She is keeping something from everyone who
knows her: the fact that sounds, numbers, and letters have color for
her.
When trouble in school finally convinces Mia to reveal her secret,
she feels like a freak. Her family and friends have trouble relating to
her as she embarks on an intense journey of self-discovery. By the time
she realizes she has isolated herself from all the people who care about
her, it is almost too late. She has to lose something very special in
order to find herself.
What I Thought:
Not many books can make me cry while eating a bowl of ice cream. This one did.
This book was made even more special to me because my friend has synesthesia, the same thing Mia does. (I know it's cool, right.)
Synesthesia is a condition that some people have where the different
senses—touch, taste, hearing, vision, and smell—get mixed up instead of
remaining separate. The most common variety is called Lexical
Synesthesia, which is where letters and numbers each have individual
colors. For instance, someone with this condition might say that the
letter "A" has a sunflower yellow tint with a crumbly feel to it. The
number 2 might be the color of wet cement.
(I got this article from here.)
When you first read the back cover it sounds like the book is simply about Mia overcoming her "differences" and becoming somewhat normal. But that's not what it is about at all. "A Mango-Shaped Space" is about a family, who despite their differences, learn to love and accept each other.
This book is REALLY cute and I would strongly suggest reading it!!
HEy. Nice. Followed you. Here's my site. mummyooblogspot,com
ReplyDeleteThe title of this book caught my attention because I really like mangoes :P. I'm not sure what I was really expecting with the mango thing, but when I read the summary I didn't think it would be an interesting book. I have a strange love for books that make me cry though, so I think I might check this book out sometime. It would be pretty neat to see into the life of someone with this rare condition.
ReplyDeleteI think its super cool that your friend has synesthesia. Perhaps she could write her own book!
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I think you would like it. A Mango Shaped Space is a very cute and sad book. :)
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