Review: The Search for WondLa

The Search for WondLa
by Tony DiTerlizzi (creator of Spiderwick Chronicles)
Simon & Schuster
Genre: YA Fantasy

Take a little bit of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice in Wonderland", toss in some "Star Wars" and "Planet of the Apes", mix well by a talented writer and you'll have an idea of this book. From the fantastic mind of Tony DiTerlizzi, creator of the Spiderwick Chronicles, this is the first of a three part series.

The story concerns a twelve-year-old girl, Eva Nine, who has been raised in an underground sanctuary by a robot named Muthr. When a vicious hunter destroys the sanctuary in search of Eva, she is forced to go above ground for the first tie in her life. Up there, she finds odd creatures, but no one like her. She sets off across the land to find other humans. With the help of kind, though strange, friends, she runs for her life from the hunter and heads for the badlands where it is rumored she may find other humans.

Mr. DiTerlizzi is a master craftsman with this genre. His characterizations, world building, and settings are so well done, you believe there may actually be a world like this one. The story flows well and is enjoyable from page one to the last chapter. According to the information accompanying this pre-pub copy, there will also be an interactive web site so readers can journey along with Eva and her friends, just the sort of thing any young tween would like.

If there are any drawbacks at all for me, it is that the last page leaves you dangling. This is definitely not a stand alone book and it will be necessary to get the other books to finish the story, a marketing ploy that continually frustrates me. But other than this minor, and not unexpected, issue, I highly recommend The Search for WondLa. I am definitely looking forward to the others.

~Vicky Burkholder