The Search For Wondla

The people of Simon and Schuster sent me a ‘young readers’ book called The Search for Wondla to review.

This is a book by Tony DiTerlizzi, the illustrator behind the popular Spiderwick series, which my son loved and was and is his first foray into chapter books.

I LOVE Sci Fi.  I have loved Science Fiction since I read John Christopher’s Tripod series as a kid.   Naturally, I would be delighted if my kids could find Fantasy and Sci Fi books that they could enjoy too.    And thankfully there are many many awesome genre books for youthful readers.

With DiTerlizzi’s BEAUTIFUL illustrations, this makes a great start into my favorite genre.

Book One is a thick book…and can be daunting for a new reader.  My son at age eight is just getting better with reading richer more ‘complicated’ novels, and Wondla is a bit beyond him to read on his own yet.

However, it has been a WONDERFUL book for us all to curl up with and have me read to them while they pour over the drawings of all the strange and wonderful creatures that Eva Nine meets on this beginning of her adventure on world called Orbona.

Eva Nine is an eleven year old girl who has been raised alone in an underground complex by her robot caretaker – MUTHR.  MUTHR’s sole objective has been to prepare Eva for a life above ground.  A life Eva has only seen images of and experienced in their ‘holographic simulator.’    The world she is preparing for seems to be Earth…but a wild environment of forest and trees….not cities and multitudes of other humans.

She has been told there are other complexes like her own and that she should be able to find other ‘humans’ like herself…..and this is what Eva yearns for.

She keeps a scrap of burnt paper with only the words ‘WOND’ and ‘La’ visible on it.   This she feels is a vital clue to the other people she will one day find.

Eva’s training is cut short by the destructive attack on the complex by a creature she later learns is named Besteel.  He appears to be hunting for Eva.  He appears to know about her existence.   But he is a creature that she has never seen or heard of and neither has her caretaker MUTHR.

Eva flees to the surface only to quickly discover that the world above is NOTHING like she or MUTHR or her field guide, the ‘Omnipod.’  This device is supposed to help her identify flora and fauna but it is completely stumped by everything they see.    She only survives and later retrieves MUTHR with the help of a traveler who also has had the misfortune of meeting Besteel

Rovender Kitt is as mystified by Eva Nine as she is he.  He tells her that yes there are other underground complexes similar to hers..but they are all in ruins with no signs of any habitation.  He also tells her sadly that he has never met or heard of any other creatures like herself.

He reluctantly agrees to help them reach the city of  Solas, where he feels there must be SOMEONE who will know more about Eva and other humans.

And thus their adventures begin.

This is just book one of the series……as we read on, we meet more wonderful creatures, walking trees, water bears called Otto that have a psychic connection to Eva and Evan and MUTHR become more baffled by the day.    We learn that Besteel is hunting Eva on the payroll of a powerful figure and the plot – as they say – thickens.

The people behind the book have come up with a cool interactive experience for those with  web cams (and pc’s that can handle it) called WONDLA VISION.   Certain pages with images of the Omnipod, when held up to your web cam will give you 3D interactive maps of Orbona and the areas that Eva and her companions have explored.

I sadly can’t get this to WORK on my computer..but will keep trying as it seems kind of fun.  The Wondla.com website is fun too with games and lots of information about the characters in the novel.

My kids are really enjoying our reading of this book and we look forward to reading the rest of the series…we want to know all about the world of Eva…we want things to work out for her.  She is a sweet girl.  Pragmatic, thoughtful, kind and filled with a fragile strength.   We all like her a lot.

This book is great for advanced readers or kids a bit older than mine.   It would make a GREAT Christmas gift.