When I began working in the youth department of the Knox County Public Library last August, my daughter insisted that I needed to read more books written for middle school aged children so that I would not embarrass her with poor book recommendations. We found a list of the 50 best books and graphic novels for middle schoolers and have been slowly reading through them together. Although many of the books on the list were already available in the library, the number one pick wasn’t part of our collection…until last month.
“The Search for WondLa” by Tony DiTerlizzi is a remarkable piece of children’s literature. It is hard to categorize as strictly science fiction or fantasy, but is an adventure with elements of both.
The book follows 12-year-old Eva Nine as she leaves her home for the first time and explores a world full of walking trees, carnivorous flowers, and a particularly nefarious bounty hunter that seems determined to track her down. It is a unique world with elements both familiar and totally alien which I found to be enchanting.
Eva’s journey is exciting and scary and even sad at times. It is a story that will challenge younger readers, but it will also keep them hooked. There is enough humor woven in to keep the book from ever feeling heavy, but there is also enough depth to the story to keep it from feeling trivial. Overall, it is a well-balanced story for its target audience.
Tony DiTerlizzi was a familiar author even before I picked up this book. I read his picture book “The Spider and the Fly” to my younger siblings hundreds of times when they were toddlers. And I read the first book of his series “The Spiderwick Chronicles” (co-written with Holly Black) with my children several years ago. Both books were full of whimsical illustrations.
But “The Search for WondLa” goes beyond his other works. The book itself is a piece of art. Each chapter begins with a full two-page illustration. Every detail from the fonts to the colors to the design of the endpapers seems to have been carefully chosen to create a book that feels truly magical.
If you have a young reader who is looking for a book that will grab them and won’t let go, something that will inspire their imagination and leave them eager to read the next book, try suggesting “The Search for WondLa.” Or maybe try reading it yourself. It may have been written for a younger audience, but even as an adult I found it a charming and entertaining book.
For anyone interested in other suggestions from our middle school reading list (all available in the youth department of the KCPL, our favorites so far have been “When You Trap a Tiger” by Tae Keller, “Rain Reign” by Ann M. Martin, “Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus” by Dusti Bowling, and “Ghosts” by Raina Telgemeier.
And if anyone knows of any other middle school books that are must-reads, please let me know so I can add them to our list. You can usually find me upstairs, scouring the shelves for our next favorite book.
