Hello, Universe
Author: Erin Entrada Kelly
Pages: 320
ISBN: 0062414151
Recommended for ages 8-15
2018 Newberry Medal winner. It’s a story told from the perspective of 4 middle school kids, two girls and two boys. A self proclaimed psychic, a school bully, a deaf girl and a shy kid with his guinea pig.
Virgil, a painfully shy boy, wants to befriend the deaf girl in his resource class but just doesn't know how. He talks with his friend Kaori (a psychic) about Valencia and he is told that they are destined to become friends. Valenica finds a flyer for Koari's psychic services and makes an appointment the same day as Virigil. On the way to Kaori's, Virgil encounters "The Bull", a bully that tortures him at school. After his encounter with the Bull, Virgil's backpack with his pet guinea pig ends up at the bottom of an abandoned well and Virgil becomes trapped after trying to retrieve it.
Is it a coincidence that Virgil and the Bull end up in the woods at the same time on the same day? Is it a coincidence that the very same girl that Virgil wants to befriend makes an appointment with Kaori the same day he goes missing? Is it a coincidence that the stones Kaori needs to find Virgil are in the same woods as the abandoned well? According to Kaori there are no coincidences when it comes to the universe and destiny.
I cannot stop recommending this book to the kids I work with! I love that every one of the characters are different in their own unique way. I think that Erin Kelly does a great job of bringing light to the serious issues of the book without being overbearing and losing the interest of the kids.
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