Mango-shaped Space

Wendy Mass

4.21

34,487 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 1435279646 ISBN 13: 9781435279643

Publisher: Paw Prints 2008-05-16, 2008

Mia Winchell has synesthesia, the mingling of perceptions whereby a person can see sounds, smell colors, or taste shapes. Forced to reveal her condition, she must look to herself to develop an understanding and appreciation of her gift in this coming-of-age novel.

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About the Author:

Wendy Mass won the ALA Schneider Family Book Award for her first young readers' novel, A Mango-Shaped Space, about a girl with the fascinating condition synesthesia. In Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, a boy embarks on a life-changing journey. InEvery Soul a Star, three very different kids are brought together by a solar eclipse; and in The Candymakers, four kids enter the contest of a lifetime. The Space Taxi series sends a boy and a talking cat on adventures to distant planets, and the Willow Falls books (beginning with 11 Birthdays) add a dash of magic into a small town. Wendy lives in New Jersey with her family.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-8-Mia, 13, has always seen colors in sounds, numbers, and letters, a fact she has kept secret since the day she discovered that other people don't have this ability. Then she discovers that she has a rare condition called synesthesia, which means that the visual cortex in her brain is activated when she hears something. From then on, she leads a kind of double life-she eagerly attends research gatherings with other synesthetes and devours information about the condition, but continues to struggle at school, where her inadvertent pairing of particular colors with numbers and words makes math and French almost impossible to figure out. Her gradual abandonment of her frustrating school life in favor of the compelling world of fellow synesthetes and the unique things only they can experience seems quite logical, although readers may feel like shaking some sense into her. Finally, and rather abruptly, her extreme guilt at her beloved cat Mango's illness brings her back down to earth and she begins to work on some of the relationships she let crumble. Mia's voice is believable and her description of the vivid world she experiences, filled with slashes, blurs, and streaks of color, is fascinating. Not all of the many characters are necessary to the story, and some of the plot elements go unresolved, but Mia's unique way of experiencing the world is intriguing.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
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