| Booktalk
#1
Mia remembers a time in third
grade when she tried to talk about her colors. The kids called her
a freak. So she hasn't talked about them since. You see, Mia
sees things differently from most people. All the letters of the
alphabet are a different color. Numbers, too. Words are a blend
of the colors of the letters that spell them. This confuses her but
she also finds comfort in it. Having numbers associated with colors
makes math just about impossible for her. And forget about Spanish
class. Just when things seem to be getting out of control, she finds
that she is not alone. Other people see things in color as well.
There is even a scientific name for it. Synesthesia.
Booktalk #2
What's in a name? For 13 year
old Mia Winchel, her best friend Jenna's name is "a shimmering shade of
green with yellow highlights". For Mia, words, letters, and sounds
have colors. Mia has had this gift all her life but when she takes
algebra and Spanish in school "seeing colors" becomes a real problem.
"Mango" is Mia's cat and the sound of her purring and breathing is a mango
shade of orange. Is Mia the only one who can see letters, words and
sounds like this? Read A Mango-Shaped Space and see for yourself.
(New Hampshire Great
Stone Face Committee, 2004-05)
Booktalk #3
In A Mango-Shaped Space we
meet 13-year-old Mia who has a unique condition. Different letters, numbers
and sounds produce different colors for her. She’s kept her condition a
secret since elementary school, but now with boys, school, and family starting
to overwhelm her, she can’t keep it a secret any longer. She finds out
she’s not the only one who sees the world as she does and learns to embrace
her uniqueness. (Prepared by: Janet Kenney ,
SCASL
Young Adult Book Awards)
Booktalk #4
I would give two-thumbs up
for A Mango Shaped Space! It is a realistic fiction, about a thirteen-year-old
named Mia.
Mia lives in a small town
with her best friend Jenna, her cat Mango, and her crazy family. She believes
Mango has a part of her grandpa in him, since she found him at her grandpa's
funeral. Her younger brother Zach, keeps a chart of how many McDonald's
cheeseburgers he's eaten on his wall, and her older sister Beth dyes her
hair a different color every week. Even though she figures she's probably
the most normal member of her family, Mia knows she's not like everyone
else. She's been keeping something from everyone since an embarrassing
incident in the third grade. And she feels anything but normal when she
has to reveal her big secret so she doesn't flunk math. For Mia, sounds,
letters, and numbers have a color for her. Will she recover? Well, she
finds a group of people just like her and, by the time she realizes that
she's isolated herself from all the people who love her, it might be too
late. And she just might have to lose something very special to her in
order to find herself again. (Mariah C., student) |
