The Wild Book

[cmp librarian]

Engle, M. (2012). The Wild Book. NY: Harcourt Children’s Books. 133 pages.

The Wild Book is not the typical Young Adult fictional story. Instead it’s a beautiful creative journey through the garden of life, tangled with words as a young girl struggles with word blindness and the uncertainties in the world around her. Words are wild things that twist and turn seeming to be alive; painting a picture for even advanced readers that reading and writing words is not always simple, just as life is not always simple.

The author weaves a story in free verse poetry form, based on her grandmother’s childhood growing up in Cuba in the early 1900’s. Josefa “Fefa” is the story’s main character. She lives with her parents and 10 siblings on their farm, Goatzacoalco. At the age of ten she is diagnosed with word blindness or dyslexia by the local doctor. Fefa struggles in school, but her mother refuses to accept the idea that her daughter is blind to words. Instead, Fefa’s mother gives her a blank white book to practice writing in. “Think of this little book as a garden… Let the words sprout like seedlings, then relax and watch as your wild diary grows.” (Engle, 2012, p. 6)

The Wild Book with its simplistic poetic form opens reader’s eyes to a world where learning isn’t easy but with patience and practice something beautiful can be created. Maybe, readers will even be inspired to try writing poetry.

This novel is a great way to include international and multicultural studies to students and adults. The free verse format makes the story a quick and accessible read for a wide audience group. The Wild Book would make an excellent book club book in a library or classroom setting as Fefa’s learning struggles and fear of reading aloud, could lead to a class discussion about respecting others when reading out loud for the class. Mothers who have children suffering with dyslexia and children with learning difficulties will find this book encouraging.