The Search for Wondla (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Search for Wondla Karen Coats DiTerlizzi, Tony . The Search for Wondla; written and illus. by Tony DiTerlizzi. Simon, 2010. [496p]. ISBN 978-1-4169-8310-1 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 5-7. Eva Nine has never seen the world outside her underground bunker. Instead, she learns about the world through immersive holographic environments, guided and nurtured by her Multi-Utility Task Help Robot, or Muthr for short. Muthr's goal is to help Eva acquire the skills to survive in the outside world, but when Eva's Sanctuary is attacked, she and Muthr realize how limited their training has been. In a trip that's the reverse of Alice in Wonderland's famous fall down the rabbit hole, Eva is thrust upward into terrain that is unrecognizable to any of the databases contained in her Omnipod, full of strange creatures and a wicked queen who wants Eva as a specimen in her freeze-dried menagerie. From there, her journey is more reminiscent of Dorothy's in The Wizard of Oz, as the multiple capture-and-escape episodes serve to consolidate warm friendships among an odd band of travelers who, charmed by Eva Nine's resourcefulness, commit to helping her find others of her kind on this alien planet. Imaginative, accessible technologies combine with fanciful creatures to create perpetual wonder in this fast-moving narrative; plentiful illustrations provide visual referents to the oddities as well as contributing an animated-movie vibe to the action. The journey plot is straightforward enough for nascent fantasy buffs, unencumbered by any political or emotional complexity. Eva's search for a far-off family of like beings is sweetly buffered by her awareness that she is well loved by the family of alien creatures along the way. An accompanying website features a book trailer and an interactive 3-D map; full interactivity requires a software download and a webcam. Reviewed from an unillustrated galley. [End Page 71] Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois