Bibliographic Citation: Mass, Wendy. (2003). A mango-shaped space. New York: Little, Brown & Co.
Summary: 13- year- old Mia Winchell has synesthesia; a condition that allows her to special colors with every letter, number, and sound. Afraid she is crazy; she keeps her condition a secret for fear of being ridiculed. Her condition begins to cause her problems in school and with her family and friend and she becomes overwhelmed. When Mia loses something important to her, she discovers what is truly important to her.
Reviews: “Thirteen-year-old Mia has a secret: for as long as she can remember, letters and numbers have had colors for her, and sounds have had both colors and shapes. Mia's kept quiet about it ever since she figured out, in third grade, that this makes her pretty freakish. But now she's failing algebra ("normally an x is a shiny maroon color...but here an x has to stand for an unknown number...and there are no maroon-colored numbers") and Spanish (she can't "match the colors of the English words to the new Spanish words"), so she comes clean to her parents. Worried, they take her to the pediatrician, who sends her to a psychotherapist, who sends her to a neurologist, who tells her she has a harmless condition called synesthesia. Mass skillfully conveys Mia's relief that there's nothing wrong with her and that the "cure" her parents want doesn't exist. Dr. Weiss assures Mia that her way of seeing the world--which she can't imagine being without, even if it sometimes makes life hard--is permanent, and that the only way it might disappear, temporarily, is from emotional trauma (prepping readers for some trauma-to-come). There's a little too much going on here: Mia misses her grandfather, who died a year ago; she and her best friend (still mourning her mother's death three years ago) have a falling out over Mia's secret; Mia suddenly has boys in her life (one classmate and one fellow synesthete she meets online); and Mia starts cheating at school and lying to her parents. Nevertheless, readers will be intrigued with Mass's fictional depiction of an actual, and fascinating, condition.” Brabander, J. M. (2003). A Mango-Shaped Space. Horn Book Magazine, 79(4), 463. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
“Gr. 6–10. This contemporary novel does for synesthesia what Terry Hesser’s Kissing Doorknobs (1998) does for obsessive-compulsive disorder: the lively personal story demystifies a fascinating condition. For 13- year-old Mia Winchell, the world has always been filled with a wonderful, if sometimes dizzying, sensory onslaught—numbers, letters, words, and sounds all cause her to see a distinct array of colors. She keeps her unusual condition a secret until eighth grade, but then her color visions make math and Spanish impossibly confusing, and she must go to her parents and a doctor for help. However, this is more than a docu-novel. Mass beautifully integrates information about synesthesia with Mia’s comingof- age story, which includes her break with her best friend, her grief over her grandfather’s death, and the loss of her beloved
pet. The episode where Mia fabricates an illness to try out acupuncture for the color visions it produces is marvelously done, showing Mia’s eagerness for new experiences even as it describes a synesthete’s vision. References to a comprehensive Web site and bibliography about synesthesia are included.” Carton, D. (2003). A Mango-Shaped Space (Book). Booklist, 99(15), 1390. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Personal Impressions: This is such a wonderful story. Many people including myself know what it’s like to be different and have someone make fun of you because of it. We try to act like everyone else and often times we deny who we really are. Sometimes it takes something either good or bad, to make us realize that we need to be true to ourselves. I also found the condition of synesthesia to be quite interesting. I’ve heard about people who have this condition and found it to be very interesting.
Suggestions for Use: This is a great book for middle school students because it teaches about individuality and being true to you. This is especially important because in middle school, everyone is afraid of being different and just wants to fit in. This would be a great book for a book talk centered around the theme of individuality.
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