Oh, where to begin? This is wonderful juvenile fiction--a post-apocalyptic fantasy with hints of L. Frank Baum's Oz books -- literally, as Eva Nine (our intrepid 11-year-old heroine) sets off on a quest guided only by her desire to find out about a scrap of heavy paper with a picture of "a girl, a robot, and an adult, looking happy" with the words Wond La printed on it. She is also looking for other humans, having been raised underground by a robot called Muthr. What she finds on the surface are strange "trees," some of which can move, which most closely resemble hugely overgrown microscopic organisms; strange, alien beings of various kinds; and animals that are completely unrecognizable to her, including Otto, a "water bear" who is rather an elephantine pill bug type of creature. She is hunted as a unique species, and eventually learns of a ruin in a desert where artifacts similar to her own belongings have been found, and attempts to travel there to see if she can find signs of humans. What she finds is the New York Public Library's Rare Printed Books and Archives Vault. There is a HUGE cliffhanger ending, and the last page says End of Book I. (According to Amazon, A Hero for WondLa (Book II) will be released in hardcover May 8, 2012). The hardback features gorgeous illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, and sprinkled throughout the book. I highly recommend this to...well, everyone, really! Also, check out the website (www.wondla.com)
I read this book as a library borrow while visiting my parents in June, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment