 |
| Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly |
"Winner of the 2018 Newbery Medal
In one day, four lives weave together in unexpected ways. Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels out of place in his loud and boisterous family. Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and secretly lonely, and loves everything about nature. Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose little sister Gen is always following her around. And Chet Bullens wishes the weird kids would just act normal so that he can concentrate on basketball. They aren’t friends -- at least not until Chet pulls a prank that traps Virgil and his pet guinea pig at the bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen, and Valencia on an epic quest to find the missing Virgil. Through luck, smarts, bravery, and a little help from the universe, a rescue is performed, a bully is put in his place, and friendship blooms."
Once again, Newbery Committee, I would just like to say, "What. The. Heck?!" How about instead of only picking books that teach kids diversity, you pick a book that teaches kids about strong parent-child relationships? Or maybe kindness and compassion? Every parent in this book was completely idiotic, and yes, that includes you, Lola, the grandmother. Filling Virgil's head with thoughts of boys being eaten by everything from rocks to crocodiles? Isn't traumatizing him just as bad as calling him Turtle? You may have loved him, but I'm pretty sure that is not how to deal with an ultra-sensitive 11 year old. In my opinion this was a mildly enjoyable book with a lot of flaws, so if this was the best we had in 2018, than it is a sad commentary on children's literature that year. It wasn't horrible, just very underwhelming. I rarely agree with the Newbery Committee, but I haven't felt this upset at the committee since The One and Only Ivan won and Wonder didn't even get an Honor.
Will middle schoolers like it? One of my main concerns is the cover. It makes it look very young. I have had this on my main display since September and it has only been checked out 3 times. I would say this book might work better for elementary. The main characters are all quite quirky, so I'm not sure how that will go over, either.
Areas of concern:
*A bully who almost kills someone and has zero repercussions.
*11 year olds who are gone for hours at a time and their parents have no idea where they are.
(Does it sound like my rant is continuing? There are not many areas of concern here.)
Will middle schoolers like it? One of my main concerns is the cover. It makes it look very young. I have had this on my main display since September and it has only been checked out 3 times. I would say this book might work better for elementary. The main characters are all quite quirky, so I'm not sure how that will go over, either.
Areas of concern:
*A bully who almost kills someone and has zero repercussions.
*11 year olds who are gone for hours at a time and their parents have no idea where they are.
(Does it sound like my rant is continuing? There are not many areas of concern here.)
Suggested Ages:
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 8-12
School Library Journal - Grades 3-7
No comments:
Post a Comment