Titles on the WondLa series:
The search for WondLa
A hero for WondLa
The battle for WondLa
The search for WondLa
A hero for WondLa
The battle for WondLa
Author & Illustrator:
Tony DiTerlizzi
★★★★☆
4 out of 5 stars
Eva Nine is a curious and sensitive twelve-year-old who has existed only in a subterranean home called Sanctuary, cared for by a robot named Muthr. Eva's great desire is to go aboveground, and her wish comes true, though not as she had imagined. On the surface, Eva goes in search of other humans--she has never met one--and soon meets both friend and foe.
WondLa is a middle-grade series following Eva Nine, a brave human in an alien planet, she is clever, curious and has a very good survival instinct and when she faces the challenge of leaving her comfortable life behind, she doesn't crumble, she is up for it. It has been a long time since I read a middle-grade series, and the heroine totally sold it to me, I was cheering for Eva in all three books and wanted her to succeed in all the different stages of her young life; but not only Eva was interesting, there's a variety of supporting characters that make the story delightful, my favorite being Rovender Kitt, Eva's mentor and companion, whom later on becomes Eva's father figure.
I found the story itself refreshing, Orbona -the planet where the story takes place- is full of color and interesting life forms. I thought that what DiTerlizzi is trying to do with WondLa is the same thing that Miyazaki does with movies such as "Nausicaa of the valley of the wind" and "Princess Mononoke", creating environmental consciousness among the public, or in this case, the young readers; but in such a unique way that it doesn't feel forced and in my honest opinion, it is really appreciated. Also, the way Orbona is a mix of different alien races living peacefully among eachother, made me think this series is pro-cultural diversity and I loved that.
Last, but not least, you should know the WondLa series is one of the most ridiculously good looking series I've ever read, the illustrations are so beautiful, and them being the author's graphic representation of his own characters help, so we as readers don't get lost into visually translating his world.
Let me know your thoughts on this review and if you are planning to read this series in the future. I leave you with my favorite quote from this series:
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