Day 7:A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

I am a fan Wendy Mass’s books. She has a way of creating a completely unique story with familiar threads. The stories involve friendship, family and finding out who you are and being comfortable with that. A Mango-Shaped Space is another wonderful story by the author. Mia Winchell seems to be a typical junior high school student. She has friends, family and school issues that all seem ordinary for a girl her age. Mia’s life is not as typical as it seems. Sounds, numbers and letters have color for her. When she hears a noise, shapes and colors appear, letters have unique colors for each one. Like Mia’s best friend Jenna, her name is a bright, shimmering shade of green with some yellow highlights. Math is Mia’s problem. The colors of the numbers and the math formulas never match up, same with Spanish, the color of the English words and the color of the Spanish words do not match. Up until the third grade, Mia thought everyone saw the world like she did but when she tried to explain it to her teacher and students she was called a freak. Mia has kept her secret until now. When it all comes out, Mia’s life takes a turn that she did not expect. This is a really sweet story about realizing that just because you see the world in a different way that does not mean you don’t belong. I would recommend this story for fourth and fifth grade girls.