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Description
Fantasy. Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. HTML:"We walked toward the part of the library where the air smelled as if it had been interred for years..... Finally, we got to the hallway where the wooden floor was the creakiest, and we sensed a strange whiff of excitement and fear. It smelled like a creature from a bygone time. It smelled like a dragon." Thirteen-year-old Juan's summer is off to a terrible start. First, his parents separate. Then, almost as bad, Juan is sent away to his strange Uncle Tito's house for the entire break! Who wants to live with an oddball recluse who has zigzag eyebrows, drinks fifteen cups of smoky tea a day, and lives inside a huge, mysterious library? As Juan adjusts to his new life among teetering, dusty shelves, he notices something odd: the books move on their own! He rushes to tell Uncle Tito, who lets his nephew in on a secret: Juan is a Princeps Reader, which means books respond magically to him, and he's the only one who can find the elusive, never-before-read Wild Book. But will Juan and his new friend Catalina get to The Wild Book before the wicked, story-stealing Pirate Book does? An unforgettable adventure story about books, libraries, and the power of reading, The Wild Book is the young readers' debut by beloved, prize-winning Mexican author Juan Villoro. It has sold over one million copies in Spanish.… (more)
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User reviews
Technically this book is marketed as the first young readers book by this author, but reads a bit more like an adult book. There is nothing in it that would be inappropriate for children, but it seems like the story would appeal more to adults. For instance, the protagonist is aged 13 in the bulk of the story but is narrating from a distance, the text is peppered with words such as “scatological” that aren’t particularly child accessible, and there are several literary references that would probably go over most children’s heads.
That all being said, I was definitely compelled by this book and read it fairly quickly. I can’t quite express it but there is something about the flow of the text that was very beautiful. I really enjoyed the use of the language and found myself wanting to mark down quotes from many parts of it. In Some respects, it reminds me of The Petit Prince; it seems deceptively simple but leaves you thinking.
Each chapter has a small illustration near its name that goes with the theme of that chapter, which was a nice touch. The ending of the book was slightly anti-climatic but I think it works with the feel of the book as a whole.
I’m not quite sure what child I would recommend this title to, but I think adults who have a love of reading and in particular a love of magical realism, this book would interest them.