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The Wild Book
The Wild Book
The Wild Book
Ebook124 pages37 minutes

The Wild Book

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Fefa struggles with words. She has word blindness, or dyslexia, and the doctor says she will never read or write. Every time she tries, the letters jumble and spill off the page, leaping and hopping away like bullfrogs. How will she ever understand them?But her mother has an idea. She gives Fefa a blank book filled with clean white pages. "Think of it as a garden," she says. Soon Fefa starts to sprinkle words across the pages of her wild book. She lets her words sprout like seedlings, shaky at first, then growing stronger and surer with each new day. And when her family is threatened, it is what Fefa has learned from her wild book that saves them.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateMar 20, 2012
ISBN9780547822228
The Wild Book
Author

Margarita Engle

Margarita Engle is a Cuban American poet and novelist whose work has been published in many countries. Her many acclaimed books include Silver People, The Lightning Dreamer, The Wild Book, and The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor Book. She is a several-time winner of the Pura Belpré and Américas Awards as well as other prestigious honors. She lives with her husband in Northern California. For more information, visit margaritaengle.com.

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Rating: 3.6935483354838707 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A great look at dyslexia in the early 1900s through the eyes of Fefa, a 10/11 year old Cuban girl. This is the only novel in verse I've ever made it through, possibly because it's a super quick, beautiful read. The language is lovely, and I deeply appreciated the way Fefa feels more powerful as she gets better at reading and writing. Plus, the cover is gorgeous.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Margarita Engle's books are just not my thing. I don't really feel like I get to know characters through the verse format. I think I liked this one a little better than some of her others, but it's just not really my favorite thing to read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I just have to express my absolute LOVE of this cover! The illustrations are just so colorful and beautiful. Now for the actual story: this is the third book I’ve read by Margarita Engle and unfortunately none of them have lived up to the first.The Wild Book is about eleven-year old Fefa, who at the beginning of the book finds out she has “word-blindness” or what we now know as common day dyslexia. The book is about Fefa’s struggle and how she works to overcome it. It’s set in the Cuban countryside of 1912, and is a work of historical fiction loosely based on stories the author’s grandmother used to tell her.I found it unbelievable how cruel Fefa’s own brothers and sisters treated her, making fun or her reading and writing, calling her ugly. Maybe it’s because I had a great relationship with my sister growing up, but I just couldn’t fathom them being so downright nasty to her.As always the authors beautiful writing had me jotting down quotes as I went along. Here is my favorite:“Words seem to floatand drift, changingtheir strange shapes,like storms clouds,always ready to explode.”Overall it wasn’t a personal favorite, but I think it serves as a great example for kids of perseverance and never giving up, because while Fefa got frustrated a lot near the beginning, she kept working to overcome her dyslexia.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A quick read, this book is told in verse as many poems that all contribute to the overarching plot line. Fefa has "word blindness" (dyslexia), and in order to overcome this obstacle, her mother gives her a blank book and has Fefa write whatever she wants in it. This book, the "wild book," ends up telling the story of her family. Fefa's family lives in Cuba, and there are bandits who steal children for ransom money. When Fefa's family gets a ransom note, it is Fefa that discovers who the bandit is by recognizing his handwriting.This story is based on the author's grandmother's childhood, growing up in Cuba. It is reflective of real events that happened during the Cuban revolution.Also, a good book for kids who are struggling readers. They will be able to relate to Fefa, and since the story is told in short poems, they can read one poem or many in one sitting, allowing for a self paced story.

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The Wild Book - Margarita Engle

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