What a wonderful treat of a book.
Fantasy books usually sit low down on my pile of books to read – especially fantasy books with strange creatures and a language guide in the back!
I think my imagination is not active enough for fantasy books as I have trouble creating a world full of bizarre characters and landscapes out of mere words. But in this case DiTerlizzi helped me along with loads of detailed illustrations and an interactive website.
The Search For WondLa is the story of Eva Nine – a lone female child brought up in an isolated sanctuary by a caring robot called ‘Muthr’.
The sanctuary is disturbed and eventually destroyed by one of the many weird creatures in this story. Eva and Muthr gone on the run to find another sanctuary, making friends & enemies along the way. As the journey progresses we realise that they’re not on some strange planet, but on Earth, in the far distant future.
I couldn’t put this book down. I raced through it with delight and anticipation. The illustrations are truly amazing and add to the reading pleasure. The ending was a wonderful thrill…but now the long wait for book two!
DiTerlizzi also has an interesting blog.
When a marauder destroys the underground sanctuary that Eva Nine was raised in by the robot Muthr, the twelve-year-year-old girl is forced to flee aboveground. Eva Nine is searching for anyone else like her: She knows that other humans exist because of an item she treasures—a scrap of cardboard on which is depicted a young girl, an adult, and a robot, with the strange word, “WondLa.”
Tony DiTerlizzi honors traditional children’s literature in this totally original space-age adventure—one that is as complex as an alien planet, but as simple as a child’s wish for a place to belong.
bronasbooks.com 