Monday, July 21, 2008

A Mango-Shaped Space

A Mango-Shaped Space
by Wendy Mass

A children's book about the struggles of a girl with synesthesia. Here is an interesting conversation about the book and the condition in general (notice that the author Wendy Mass piped in to the discussion):
http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2007/07/synesthetics.html

In any case, this book is a good read for an insider's view of synesthesia and what it would be like to have it. The author did extensive research to provide a good picture to the reader.

Wendy Mass' website on the book: http://www.wendymass.com/mass-mango.htm

Crispin: At the Edge of the World


Crispin: At the Edge of the World
by Avi

Oh my goodness. Could this book be any more unfortunate? So depressing! How did the decision get made to kill off Bear, Crispin's one link to reality on earth? And this book felt like one giant segue; they talk about going to the 'edge of the world' and then in the very last few paragraphs, "Well, I guess we're going to the edge of the world." Like that wasn't already determined... can we get to some substance to match the title already?

What this book does have are good glimpses of life in the olden days of England. That part was very interesting, talking about the different regions, how people move around, the conflicts with France.

Maybe the last book will wrap everything up and actually make sense.