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A Mango-Shaped Space

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 8,177 ratings · 1,283 reviews

Mia Winchell appears to be a typical kid, but she's keeping a big secret—sounds, numbers, and words have color for her. No one knows, and Mia wants to keep it that way. But when trouble at school finally forces Mia to reveal her secret, she must learn to accept herself and embrace her ability, called synesthesia, a mingling of the senses.

Paperback, 276 pages

Published October 19th 2005 by Little, Brown and Company

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Feb 24, 2012 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-book, young-adult, favorites

With the rise in popularity of YA novels, I think that somehow we have all forgotten what it is like to actually be a teenager. Even the better (and some of my favorite) YA's feature a girl who is clever, has great self-esteem, and knows who she is. One of the many excellent aspects of A Mango-Shaped Space is that 13 (or is it 14?) year old Mia is not only a cool protagonist, she is also a bit childlike. Granted, she is younger than the typical YA heroine, but she has a bit of naivety and immatu...more With the rise in popularity of YA novels, I think that somehow we have all forgotten what it is like to actually be a teenager. Even the better (and some of my favorite) YA's feature a girl who is clever, has great self-esteem, and knows who she is. One of the many excellent aspects of A Mango-Shaped Space is that 13 (or is it 14?) year old Mia is not only a cool protagonist, she is also a bit childlike. Granted, she is younger than the typical YA heroine, but she has a bit of naivety and immaturity that is missing from so many YA novels. It was refreshing to find it here.

A Mango-Shaped Space is the story of Mia as she enters the eighth grade and confronts her synesthesia, a condition in which her senses are mingled. For Mia, each letter, number and word has a color associated with it. Even noises and physical sensations evoke a specific color or shape for her. For years she kept this a secret from others, but she has finally decided to share her condition with the world.

But this isn't just a book about synesthesia. It is also a well written coming of age story. Mia has the predictable fights with her BFF (Oh, I had forgotten how some girls are so emotional and sensitive at that age!) She starts to notice boys. And not the super-suave and impossibly cool boys found in so many YA's. These boys are definitely not sophisticated playa's. They are dorky, awkward teenage boys. Not at all swoon worthy, but painfully reminiscent of that weird hormonal puppy love we all experienced before developing actual relationships. As the middle child, Mia has a not-too-annoying little brother, and a bitchy older sister. There are fairly involved parents and the star of the story, a cat named Mango. (Okay, Mia is the star of the story. But Mango does play a large role in the book (view spoiler)

A Mango-Shaped Space is a book I can’t praise enough. It is a fantastic middle grade read, but I whole heartedly recommend it for all adult lovers of YA as well. My only critique of it is that it has an old fashioned feel to it. In fact, if not for the mention of computers and internet this book could have just as easily been written in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s. A lot of the narrative and the tone of the story somehow reminded me of the YA books I read when I was in middle school. It’s not just the mention of kids running an actual lemonade stand (with drinks made from real lemons),feety pajamas, braided friendship bracelets, or the small town feel of the novel. It’s something about the tone of the novel which makes it seem older than it is. But in a way, that is so refreshing. Again, YA is often about strong heroines, issues, true-lurve, or some wacky paranormal mystery. But this is simply a sweet, well written story about growing up.
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Apr 04, 2013 Elspeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, minerva, young-adult

You can also read mine, and MLE's reviews on our blog.

This would have been a four star book if it wasn’t for the degradation at the end into a swirling mass of teen angst.
Yeah, I am not so much into teen angst.

The author did a great job in getting you into Mia’s head, on how scared and frustrated she was with her synesthesia. It made you think, on how the torments of the other children in her third grade math class effected her. On how she kept her synesthesia a secret until she had to tell her...more

6 likes · like · see review

Sep 30, 2012 Bluesequin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Having strong synesthesia myself, I was not very pleased with the way it is portrayed in this book. I understand that Mass does not have synesthesia herself and that this lack of experience clearly makes it difficult for her to portray the condition accurately. Nonetheless, throughout the novel, she either makes synesthesia seem like a harrowing handicap or divine euphoria. Honestly, it's neither. I think Mass made it seem greater than what it actually is. I've never encountered a synesthete who...more

16 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2010 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: synesthesia, brain-related

This book is very special to me. It is about a girl named Mia with a rare neurological condition called synesthesia. People with synesthesia "blend senses". Some common examples include colored hearing, tasting words, colored graphemes, personified graphemes, colored personalities, colored emotions, tasting colors, colored scents, hearing colors, colored units of time... even having unique visual maps of abstract concepts, such as time (for example, September might be three feet above your left...more

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Jun 10, 2008 Hooma rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: formystudents

A Mango-Shaped Space (2003) is a novel by Wendy Mass. This brilliant book is about Mia, a thirteen year old girl living with synesthesia. Her synesthesia causes her problems in school, with friends, and just having her parents understand her. For example, Mia first experiences ridicule at the hands of her third-grade classmates when she is called to the front of the room to do a math problem. She uses coloured chalk to make the numbers fit into the synthesiasiatic form in which she sees them. He...more A Mango-Shaped Space (2003) is a novel by Wendy Mass. This brilliant book is about Mia, a thirteen year old girl living with synesthesia. Her synesthesia causes her problems in school, with friends, and just having her parents understand her. For example, Mia first experiences ridicule at the hands of her third-grade classmates when she is called to the front of the room to do a math problem. She uses coloured chalk to make the numbers fit into the synthesiasiatic form in which she sees them. Her teacher tells her to stop stalling by making up silly stories. Mia is left confused and alone, because she thoght everyone saw this way. After that, Mia tells nobody about her colors.

When Mia is tweleve her most beloved friend, her grandfather, dies. During her grandfather's funeral, Mia finds a Gray and white kitten with eyes just like her grandfather's. She immediately decides that part of her grandfather's soul is living in that kitten. She takes him home and names him Mango. Not because of his orange eyes, but because his meows and is heavy wheezing are different shades of orange and yellow to her; like a mango in different seasons. The wheezes is actually caused by a dip rip in Mango's lung, which cannot be repaired, but Mango copes with it.

When school trouble in 8th grade causes Mia to tell about her colors. Her mother takes Mia to many different doctors, but only one has a answer. He is a docter who demands they call him Jerry, nothing else. Her tells Mia all about her synesthesia, and gives her loads of information about it. He even gives her a website where Mia can communicate with other synesthetes.

Later on in the story, Mia has her first kiss with a boy named Adam, a boy she met on that website.

Because she is so preoccupied with her condition and life, Mango dies of cold, because he got locked outside and was unable to reach the warmth of his home. After Mango dies, Mia is extremely depressed and her colors disappear.They come back, When she meets up witha young boy named Billy, who shares her condition. Billy helps her realize that she has to move on to help other synesthetes.

However, Mango ended up mating with one of the neighbor's female cats before he died, and she gave birth to some kittens. Mia saw that one of the kittens sounded like the color of Mustard. She knew on the inside Mango would want Mia to have his son, so his spirit could live on.
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Sep 02, 2007 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: tweens

Here's what I like about A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass: The plot is extremely interesting and really, for lack of a better word, new. Mass talks about a condition that most people have never even heard of and she just runs with it.

Here's what I don't like: Mass is at pains throughout the novel to make sure everyone knows her narrator is young. I also have mixed feelings about it winning an award (the Kaplan award I believe) for artistically representing life with a disability.

Here's some in...more Here's what I like about A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass: The plot is extremely interesting and really, for lack of a better word, new. Mass talks about a condition that most people have never even heard of and she just runs with it.

Here's what I don't like: Mass is at pains throughout the novel to make sure everyone knows her narrator is young. I also have mixed feelings about it winning an award (the Kaplan award I believe) for artistically representing life with a disability.

Here's some information so you can actually understand what I'm going on about: Okay, so the book follows thirteen-year-old Mia. Mia has synesthesia, a neurological condition that allows her to see letters and numbers in color. As the blurb on the back of the book states, Mia named her cat Mango because that is the color of his breathing. That is, you will agree, pretty cool. The action of the story starts when Mia realizes she can no longer keep her condition a secret from her friends and family because it's starting to interfere with her schoolwork. So Mia starts going to doctors and she finally meets people just like her.

So, on one level, this story is about dealing with synesthesia. But it also has a lot more going on. Mia's grandfather has recently died and, as readers will learn, Mango's place in the story is intricately tied to that of Mia's grandfather. At the end of the day, more than being about dealing with a disability (I'm not even sure I like calling synesthesia a disability) A Mango-Shaped Space is about accepting who you are and coping with the harder parts of life.

I read this book back-to-back with Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian so comparisons are inevitable. What I found really interesting is that Alexie's narrator is only a year older than Mia, but the story is clearly appropriate for teens--I'd never give it to a ten year old for instance. Mass' novel, on the other hand, could just as easily be cataloged as a Children's book rather than Young Adult (left to my own devices I think I would do just that). Why? Well, like I said, Mass makes sure we know how young Mia is. Revelations like Mia never previously sitting with a boy at lunch or attending a boy-girl party abound in the narrative--sometimes unnecessarily.

At the same time, the material is just less heavy. The tone is lighter and the characters are a little less developed so that their hurts never quite hit home. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing though--it just makes it clear, while reading, that the book could be appropriate for a younger audience.

I'd definitely give this book a look though. The prose is easy to digest and the story is really interesting. And, surprisingly, the story features a lot of characters who are just as interesting to meet as Mia (with her synesthesia)--Mia's little brother Zach is a particular favorite for this reviewer.(less)

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Aug 18, 2007 Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: creative folks & young adults

Here's what I wrote in an email to my former professors, the ones who taught me that synesthesia existed. I have a Master's in gifted & creative education, and many gifted & creative people have synesthesia just as the protagonist in this story does.

In any case, below is the email I sent to them today. It'll have to do as my review, as I don't feel like writing anymore:

One of my new favorite websites, www.goodreads.com, led me to a reading group for those who love young adult literatur...more Here's what I wrote in an email to my former professors, the ones who taught me that synesthesia existed. I have a Master's in gifted & creative education, and many gifted & creative people have synesthesia just as the protagonist in this story does.

In any case, below is the email I sent to them today. It'll have to do as my review, as I don't feel like writing anymore:

One of my new favorite websites, www.goodreads.com, led me to a reading group for those who love young adult literature. While searching through recommendations there, I came across a young adult novel called _A Mango-Shaped Space_ by Wendy Mass. The 13-year-old girl in the book is a talented artist named Mia who's dealing with the loss of her grandfather; she's formed a particularly close with her tiny cat, Mango, whom she named that for the mango-colored wheezes he emits when his lung trouble is afflicting him.

Mia's "sound-pictures" cause trouble for her in school, so much so that her math and foreign language grades are in the D and F ranges. Her history and art grades, on the other hand, are really high, as she uses her color associations positively to help remember dates and enhance her art.

Mia's increased school trouble leads her parents to seek out a cure for this "problem." Once Mia finds out she's a synesthete, her world completely changes. She learns to embrace the colors that surround her with every sound and has hopes of harnessing them in to better learn, but as she becomes enthralled with learning about herself, her relationships with those closest to her start to suffer and her school performance becomes even less of a priority.

This book is well-written, imaginative, and interesting. As someone who already knew about synesthesia, it was intriguing to read about it in a fictional book and not in an academic article or textbook. That being said, the author has done her research and provides synesthetic characters who are true-to-life examples of this amazing proverbial "crossing of wires in the brain." Well done!
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Feb 16, 2012 Cheryl in CC NV rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Jan 02, 2012 Angie Voong rated it 5 of 5 stars

So far, I think this is a very interesting book, because I have never seen anyone memorize things by colors. I never even knew what synesthesia was until I started reading this book. At certain times while reading this book, I wish I could experience a day with synesthesia, sensing colors like Mia Winchell. In addition, I enjoy reading the part when Mia is taking the math test. She struggles with memorizing the formulas by actual letters, then she uses her method of using colors during the test...more

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Oct 10, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-books

'Growth can only truly be achieved through loss' (- A Mango Shaped-Space, by Wendy Mass) I love this quote because it demonstrates The pain and suffering that comes from loss but also the growth. In this book Mia discovers a huge loss that wounds her but also makes her 10x stronger. I feel like this was a great lesson for Wendy to put into her book. In a way i see it as 'when one door closes another door opens'. This is one of the many lessons I learned from this book. "Numbers don't have colors...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Synesthesia rated it 4 of 5 stars

First of all, synesthesia is not a disability. You wish you had it. Since it's my username and something I have, I have personal experience on the subject.
My sort of synethesia equals seeing colours in music based on the key, smelling music, tasting it. Feeling the texture of it on my skin. Songs can have a temperature or a time of day like as song can be in the key of D or something and feel like a night sort of song or in the key of D minor and be grey like an overcast day.
I can also taste wor...more

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Jun 03, 2010 Britt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Britt van der Poel 4-22-10
A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

A Mango-Shaped Space is about a girl named Mia who has synesthesia. The color for her name is a sunflower yellow, and the numbers get mixed up in math class all the time. Her parents freak out when she tells them, and when her cat dies all of her colors disappear. Mia is very confused about what to do in her life, but ends up finding a lot of friends who understand and respect her. Eventually, everyone in her class figures out that sh...more Britt van der Poel 4-22-10
A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

A Mango-Shaped Space is about a girl named Mia who has synesthesia. The color for her name is a sunflower yellow, and the numbers get mixed up in math class all the time. Her parents freak out when she tells them, and when her cat dies all of her colors disappear. Mia is very confused about what to do in her life, but ends up finding a lot of friends who understand and respect her. Eventually, everyone in her class figures out that she has synesthesia. They all start asking her what color their name is, and sooner or later, she becomes better in math.
My favorite character was Mia because she was very independent and caring. She handled her situations by herself and didn’t give up. She was also very creative, and I liked her way of giving everyone a different color for his or her name. She didn’t care what other people said about her, and she always kept the people she cared about dearly in her mind. She seemed very much like me, so it was easy for me to connect myself to her.
The climax of the story was when her cat, Mango, died. Mia’s colors disappeared and went straight to black and white for a couple days. She felt blanked out without seeing a bright, shiny color when looking at something. Mango reminded Mia of her Grandfather who died when she was seven years old. Whenever she looked at her cat, she would see his face and cry, thinking of the painting she threw away of him which she had painted herself.
I think that the author wanted me to know that you should respect anyone no matter who they are. People can be nice no matter what they have or are. I think she also wanted the readers to know that you have to try in order to receive something. Mia really had to try to become better in Math, and she did. You just have to tell yourself to try a little bit harder.
I would recommend this book to people of all ages. It is a suspenseful, interesting, and exciting book, and anyone who reads it will be impressed.
I rate this book a 10 out of 10.
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Jul 01, 2008 Mrs. Featherbottom rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone, especially pet-owners

Recommended to Mrs. Featherbottom by: my sister

This book is great! I actually read it because my sister is a middle school teacher who reads lots of young adult books to recommend to her students and she told me I had to check this one out.

I'm only a few years shy of being twice Mia the narrator's age, but found her to be awesome. Definitely not perfect and kind of a pain in the butt to other characters at times (terrible school project partner, for one) but such a realistic, hilarious 13-year-old.

The character development was great in gene...more

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Jan 05, 2008 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

I bought a stack of books at Borders yesterday, and I bought a book that I have wanted for quite a bit. I’m even thinking about using this as our next book club book (after A Great and Terrible Beauty).

A Mango Shaped Space tells the tale of Mia Winchell (what an awesome name!) , a secret synesthete. Mia sees colors when she hears sounds, and letters, numbers, and names all have names for her. Except she hasn’t told anyone.

Mia is terrified of the reaction of her fellow students if they ever learn...more

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Mar 30, 2008 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

My reading preferences tend to gravitate towards the fantastic/magical/otherworldly, but for a realistic fiction novel, this book has a lot going for it.

Quick synopsis: Mia is different than everyone she knows. For years she's kept a secret - she sees colors in sounds and letters and words. Finally in her eighth grade year, when her colors begin to seriously affect her schoolwork, she realizes she can't keep them a secret any longer. Mia's story is one of self-discovery, acceptance, loss, and h...more

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Feb 06, 2008 Valerie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

A Mango-Shaped Space is the story of Mia, a thirteen-year-old girl with synesthesia (she sees letters, numbers and sounds as having colors and/or shapes). I had never heard of synesthesia before reading this book, and learning about it was interesting enough on its own. Combined with what's going on in Mia's life (dealing with the death of her grandfather, starting to have feelings for boys, and being a teen in general) it makes for a compelling read.

The end of the book hit me pretty hard emotio...more

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Jul 14, 2007 Josh Bruton rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone!

Shelves: origionalinspirational

This was a random book I came across in my local Library and when I started reading I just couldn't put it down. The book's main character is a girl who has synesthesia, a crossing of sensory nerves. Some people hear certain colors when they see them or people will get certain tastes in their mouth by hearing a specific sound, it is an interesting phenomena. This book travels from her young child hood, not knowing what was different from her when she used colors to represent certain numbers. She...more

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Jun 20, 2008 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teachers, parents, kids (especially those with disabilities)

Recommended to Anna by: saw it on the shelf at Borders

Shelves: fiction, young-adult, favorites

The cover of this book caught my eye at Borders and once I started reading I immediately fell in love with Mia, the narrator, and her story. This book is amazingly well written and the character development is so thorough. It's a funny book that deals with very real issues of growing up with a twist -- the narrator has a very uncommon, unusual visual disability. I was struck by how much I could connect with Mia (even as an adult reader) and feel as though I took away a lot from this book in term...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Devon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, books-i-own

I really enjoyed this book. I was afraid at first that the age of Mia Winchell (13) was going to be hard for me to relate to because she's so young. On the contrary, it sort of brought up memories of middle school for me while simultaneously teaching me about synesthesia. It was a very informative and fun read, as well as quite a tear jerker. I was able to become attached to many of the characters from Mia to her hilariously superstitious brother Zack, to her compassionate therapist, to her comf...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Jaemi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fiction

This is the second book I've read that revolves around Synthesthesia, and much like the condition manifests itself quite differently in the people it affects, this story was quite different than the other.

The first difference was that in this book, our main character had this condition her whole life, but found no name for it until she was in her teens. She's then hooked up with a support group of other people sharing her condition, and finds herself in what she views as an exciting new world. R...more

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Dec 12, 2008 Casey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Have you ever considered the possibility that not everyone views colors in the same way you do? That some people associate colors with sound and numbers?Synesthesia is a medical condition that causes the visual cortex in the brain to be activated when the person hears something. Mia, the main character in this book, has that very condition. When she hears any sound, she sees blotches of color that appear to be suspended in the air a few feet in front of her. All numbers, to her, have their own c...more

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May 05, 2013 Sydney2adams rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: english-356

I read this book because it was suggested to me by my teacher. I was also pretty interested in Synesthesia. I learned about it in high school and actually knew a girl with it. She saw that her name was pink.
The book is an excellent read if you are also interested in Synesthesia and it's many different forms. It was pretty beautiful to read as it adds this third dimension of colors to the mix. It was also a pretty accurate description of what it was like to be 13. It was a little horrifying to re...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Cleo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books

I find synesthesia such a fascinating condition, and this book is all about synesthesia. Some elements of it were very unrealistic, but it was also really skillfully written. "Mia Winchell appears to be a typical kid, but she's keeping a big secret—sounds, numbers, and words have color for her. No one knows, and Mia wants to keep it that way. But when trouble at school finally forces Mia to reveal her secret, she must learn to accept herself and embrace her ability, called synesthesia, a minglin...more I find synesthesia such a fascinating condition, and this book is all about synesthesia. Some elements of it were very unrealistic, but it was also really skillfully written. "Mia Winchell appears to be a typical kid, but she's keeping a big secret—sounds, numbers, and words have color for her. No one knows, and Mia wants to keep it that way. But when trouble at school finally forces Mia to reveal her secret, she must learn to accept herself and embrace her ability, called synesthesia, a mingling of the senses." I've read a few other books by Wendy Mass, though not in the past few years. This was her first book, and I really enjoyed it.

The one thing that was unrealistic was that well, simply stated, this book is set in the present, and synesthesia was "discovered" sometime in the twentieth century, I believe. I found it just a tad bit unrealistic that Mia never hopped on the Internet to see if anyone else had a similar condition to her own. And then, when she does end up going to see a therapist, they seem to have no clue about synesthesia until they go to see a more advanced doctor. It may not be a very well-known thing, but I would think that doctors would know about it. And really, it's every artist's dream. I would love to be able to experience it for a day or two. Mia herself loves to paint while listening to music. Also, I think this book won an award for portraying a disability experience, but really, I wouldn't call synesthesia a disability. It seems really cool to me. I don't wish to offend any people who actually have synesthesia and hate it though...

Still, I loved the cast of characters in this book, and loved the relationship between Mia and her cat, Mango. Here's a little snippet: "Everyone thinks I named my cat Mango because of his orange eyes, but that's not the case. I named him Mango because the sounds of his purrs and his wheezes and his meows are all various shades of yellow-orange..."

Some of Wendy Mass's later books may actually be better written; in this one, she's kind of just stretching her wings. It was still really good; just some things made me a little uneasy. I can imagine that since she doesn't have synesthesia herself, it would be difficult to write about. I was also surprised by how many reviewers hadn't heard of the condition before. Sorry, that sounded really mean.

Overall, I enjoyed A Mango-Shaped Space, and would recommend giving it a try. I really loved some aspects of the book, including the premise. It didn't end up being a 5 star read for me, but it was still pretty compelling. I loved reading about how different sounds have different colors for Mia.

Incidentally, I know one person with synesthesia, for whom voices also have colors. My voice to her is the color of a caramel apple, caramel on the outside, and green on the inside.

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Mar 17, 2013 Zigzigmig rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is a real eye opener for what kids with metal/ learning disability have to go trough.

Probably my favorite part of the book that will all ways stay with me is when she goes on the website for people like her and at the top it says something on the lines of "We've tried coloring the letters and words to match how you see them , but now they are black because one persons red 'R' is an others blue 'R'". This is one of the most important part of every day life, it's the moment when someon...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Mackenzie Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was the perfect book for me. I loved everything about it. The plot was never boring, there was always something you were waiting to find out (similar to another one of Wendy Mass' books, Every Soul a Star). There was many twists and Another great aspect of A Mango-Shaped Space was that the character Mia, was dealing with many other normal middle school problems that any sixth, seventh, or eighth grader could to relate to, other than her diagnosis of Synthesia. Speaking of which, I didn't ev...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Gemma rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd never heard of synaesthesia and initially thought it was fictional. In realizing that this is a real trait, I'm even more impressed with the natural way in which Wendy Mass introduces it.

I think that this book is an easy, enjoyable read that helps young readers/teens learn about growing up and taking life one stride at a time. It also introduces a condition about which not all of us know, and that might address some key questions for those who share its traits...

Narrated in the 1st person,...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Amita rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Mango-Shaped Space
Wendy Mass
Realistic Fiction
218 pages

A Mango-Shaped Space is a book about a girl named Mia. Ever since Mia was little, she has seen colors and shapes that go with numbers, letters, etc. In third grade, Mia rewrote a math problem with the correct colors, the colors that she gave each number. Then, her teacher made her apologize for fooling around in class. Also, Mia's classmates called her a freak. In the end, Mia had to go to the principal's office. There she confessed to fool...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Kristin marked it as to-read

Shelves: children-s-books, ra

I haven't read this, but the synopses actually put me off of it. As someone with synesthesia, I don't see how anyone could think they need to go to a doctor for it or have problems as a result of it. I've never thought it was anything special or scary, just mildly funny-- when I was growing up, my parents just always told other relatives with amusement, oh what a funny kid, she says "it tastes purple" or "it makes my stomach feel blue" or "the air smells orange." Then, when I grew up, I simply k...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Lucas rated it 5 of 5 stars

A mango shaped space is a very emotional book that has to do with relationships, loss, love, trying to fit in, and growing up.

Mia is a young girl who all her life has had a condition known as synestesia. The pressence of synestesia in her life has it's ups and downs. For example; while she is very good at art and other creative endevours, she has alot of trouble with math and spanish since in her mind a sunset red 1 does not mix with a sunflower yellow 7 to make a lime green 8 (The same consept...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Sara ♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: challenge-summer-2012, 2012, books-i-own, young-adult, realistic-fiction, tear-jerker

Awesome, awesome, awesome! I loved this book enough the first time to want to buy it, but I just got around to re-reading it. SO GOOD!

Mia is a great little character. She's just... teenagery enough to be believable, without it being overdone. She seems like a NORMAL kid (hence the "realistic-fiction" shelving). (In other words, she's doesn't make so many ridiculously stupid decisions that you want to bang your head against a wall, like a lot of "teen" characters I've read.) Sure, she's naive, an...more

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Young Adult

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Realistic Fiction

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Contemporary

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Childrens > Middle Grade

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Childrens

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Young Adult > Teen

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Academic > School

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About Wendy Mass

Wendy Mass is the author of six novels for young people, including A Mango-Shaped Space (which was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award by the American Library Association), Leap Day, the Twice Upon a Time fairy tale series, and Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, which earned a starred review in Publishers Weekly magazine. Her most recent book is Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall. Wendy wrote...more

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Quotes from A Mango-Shaped Space

“They say the eyes are the window to the soul.” — 73 people liked it

“I'm going to be so normal that when people look up normal in the dictionary, my name will be there.” — 8 people liked it

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A Mango-Shaped Space

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