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Apr 07, 2011

Shannon added it

I had high expectations after all the gushing I heard from the peeps at S&S when I picked up this ARC--not to mention I'd flipped through the book and seen some of the fabulous illustrations--and the book definitely lived up to everything I'd hoped for.

Eva Nine is a wonderful character. Stubborn and vulnerable and smart and sweet and real. I could feel her fear and her loneliness, her wonder and confusion. And the world! I don't know where Tony gets his imagination from, but I want to More...

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Dec 12, 2011

Vincent rated it:

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Wolf rated it:

This would have to be the absolute best book I have ever read, and that's saying something because I have been reading books since I was two years old. This is a wonderful, spellbinding, and creative novel written by the author of the Spiderwick Chronicles. The book takes place in the future, and it is about a 12 year old girl named Eva Nine, who has lived in an underground sanctuary her whole life, never having seen another human being, with only her protective robot guardian, M.U.T.H.R.(That s More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

Aydnn rated it:

Now, I'm a sucker for imaginative, creative fantasy like this.
But Tony DiTerlizzi has gone beyond the threshold most modern fantasy stays in. Unlike many books of the genre, who stick to a plot somewhere along the lines of "boy/girl has pet dragon/griffin/unicorn. boy/girl goes on adventure with pet dragon/griffin/unicorn. boy/girl meets troll. boy/girl battles troll, but gets hurt. boy/girl meets elf. elf becomes the boy/girl's friend. they continue adventuring" (not an all bad s More...

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Feb 04, 2012

Tanja rated it:

This was a very easily read adventure story for children. Entertaining enough and a little sad. I feel some depth was missing, but that might be because I didn't take the time to create it myself. Eva Nine lives in a "safe house" underneath the earth, it's the only home she's ever known. She is taken care of by a robot. The safehouse is invaded, Eva escapes to the earth and realizes what is on the surface is nothing like she expected or was trained for. Everything has changed. While Ev More...

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Nov 22, 2011

Erin rated it:

Do you ever buy a book without knowing what is it about, solely based on the fact the someone (you don’t even remember who) said it was good and you like the cover? Oh… Me neither… But if I *did* do that, it would go something like this:

“Hmmm… The Search for WondLa (Simon & Schuster). That sounds really familiar. Didn’t Anastasia Beaverhausen mention that this was really good? Or maybe she just said she wanted to read it. I like the cover. Weird animals, robots, and some girl who kin More...

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Oct 27, 2011

Teresa rated it:

Eva Nine (evidently pronounced "Ehvahnyne") has known nothing but her underground Sanctuary and her robot mother, Muthr, and is champing at the bit for some freedom and adventure. When her home is destroyed by a hunter and she's forced to flee, she's propelled into life and death situations and wonders if all her survival training has prepared her for the reality of life outside.

I admit that after hearing lukewarm reviews from friends I only picked this up because I was int More...

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Oct 19, 2011

Stacy rated it:

I have to say, I hated the Spiderwick Chronicles. I couldn't stand the idea of a "magic fairy guide for dummies" or a stone that see-through. Just 'ugh' in my opinion but this review is about "The Search for WondLa". I really enjoyed it. I never finish a book if I don't absolutely love it, but I was intrigued by the new world, Orbona with Muthur, Rovander (who I fell in love with), Otto the waterbear and the cities filled to the brim with new and fascinating aliens. But the f More...

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Aug 05, 2011

Hannah rated it:

First off, I just want to say that Tony DiTerlizzi is a fantastic illustrator with a wonderful imagination. His pictures are absolutely fantastic and beautiful. The creatures he's created are so creative, it's a shame that the story doesn't match.

I feel the actual plot (and the ending) is a little bit contrived. It's also pretty predictable as well as very, VERY cliched in some parts. The character arc of Rovee was like any other grumpy character who is "forced" to help the heroine More...

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Mar 31, 2011

~Megan~ rated it:

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I had a few problems with it. That's probably because I recently read Pegasus, by Robin McKinley, and in my opinion that was a better-written book. I found Eva Nine a little hard to identify with. It seemed to me like her emotions weren't very clearly defined, and it was hard to see her motives sometimes. Her relationship with Muthr was one of the things I found confusing. Eva called Muthr a "stupid robot" at one point, and though she kind of seemed to More...

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Mar 24, 2011

Vicky rated it:

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 More...

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Jan 26, 2011

TPK rated it:

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2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Ailiu rated it:

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and even though it is technically a "children's book", I decided to give it a try, mostly because of the illustrations. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but this cover is hard to ignore. I am always more likely to read a book with illustrations by the author, because to me that says that the author really put a lot of thought and imagination into the story. The story itself is fantastic, something that would definitely have en More...

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Dec 23, 2010

Mary Kate rated it:

Twelve-year-old Eva Nine has spent her entire life living in Sanctuary, an underground compound where she is cared for by the motherly robot, Muthr (Multi-Utility Task Help Robot). She's never met another human nor visited the surface and she longs to do both, dreaming of a world - and of the companionship and love to be found there - that she's only seen glimpses of on scraps of paper. When Sanctuary is attacked, Eva is forced to escape to the surface alone, where she soon finds that the realit More...

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Dec 20, 2010

Michele rated it:

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Dec 05, 2010

Kathleen rated it:

The newest offering from Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles), is all about the illustrations. Every 4 to 5 pages contains a full page or even double-page illustration done by DiTerlizzi in detailed black and white. They are really well done - he has quite a talent for graphic illustration. Five stars for the artwork.

The story begins with a human child, Eva Nine, existing in an underground home. She is tended and taught by a maternal-like robot, called MUTHR. Her lessons i More...

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Nov 21, 2010

Handd51 rated it:

Dirlizzi is one dcreative guy. This book follows Eva 9 as she explores what she thinks is Earth - except there is nothing recognizable about the planet or its life forms. She is rousted from her safe self-contained undergraound home where she is being raised by a robot mother who thinks there are more pods like theirs scattered about. The beast (Besteel) that crashes in chases her, captures her briefly, and continues to hound her thourghout the book while she accumulates other heroic friends More...

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Nov 16, 2010

Charlyn rated it:

Eva Nine has always lived in an underground bunker where she has been raised by the robot Muthr. Through well-developed technology, she has trained to survive in the world that lies above her, but she has never seen it. She is sure, however, that as a 12-year-old girl, she is more than ready to explore the "real world" of planet earth. Unfortunately, she is propelled into that world unexpectedly when a monstrous hunter breaks in. Muthr manages to get Eva Nine out safely, but she is More...

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Nov 03, 2010

Madeline rated it:

Eva Nine has never ventured out of her underground Sanctuary where she lives alone with her robot caretaker, Muthr. When she is finally forced out of her home by a strange sentient life form unlike anything in her Sanctuary’s database, she discovers that the world she live on is unlike the one she had expected. Instead of Earth trees and animals, she is faced with the dangerous creatures and aliens of Orbana. Hunted by one of the aliens while befriended by others, Eva sets out from her destro More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 26, 2010

Theresa rated it:

Eva 9 grew up in an underground bunker, basically, and knew no one except her robot caretaker, MUTHR (an acronym for something, but I can't remember at the moment). One day their home is destroyed by an huntsman and they are forced to journey out into a world that's not exactly what they expected. This was a terrific adventure story for kids, and I really enjoyed it. It also includes some interactivity for those of you who have smart phones or computers with cameras...neither of which I have, More...

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Aug 04, 2010

Diane rated it:

The Search for Wondla is the beginning of a promising new series by award-winning author, Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles). Twelve-year old Eva Nine has been raised underground by a robot aptly named MUTHR. She has never seen the sun, the sky, or another human being. When a huntsman destroys her underground home, Eva is forced to the surface of a world inhabited by a cast of Star Wars-like aliens, and she begins her search for other human beings like herself. Her only clue is a c More...

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Apr 01, 2011

Kevin rated it:

I picked up this middle grade focused story because I have a hard time resisting well packaged books that offer creative art and imaginative story lines. The Search for WonderLa certainly fits the bill. A great sci-fi/fantasy adventure with elements of the graphic novel thrown in.

As is often the case where more than one book is planned, this book introduces the characters and explores the world they find themselves in without always revealing all the details or developing secondary ch More...

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Feb 09, 2011

Bella rated it:

Imagine you are the only human left on Earth. You live underground, have never been to the surface, and you’ve been raised by a robot. All of the evidence of the human race that you know of is a picture with the words Wond and La, and yourself. When a royal huntsman destroys your home, you are forced to go to the surface in an unknown world.

Well, welcome to the life of Eva Nine. Miss Nine is a teenage girl, who has lived in an underground sanctuary with MUTHR, the mother robot who rais More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Dylan rated it:

I absolutely love children's fantasy, so as soon as I saw the cover for The Search for Wondla, I immediately went and picked the book up from Borders. The hardback book is 477 pages and had a price on it of $17.99. I've never read anything by Ton DiTerlizzi before, but as I flipped through the illustrations, I knew that I was going to like his style.

The main character in the book is a young girl, named Eva Nine, who has been raised in an underground sanctuary all her life with just her More...

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Jun 16, 2011

Tracy rated it:

Oh, where to begin? This is wonderful juvenile fiction--a post-apocalyptic fantasy with hints of L. Frank Baum's

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Books of Wonder) (Oz, #1)

--literally, as Eva Nine (our intrepid 11-year-old heroine) sets off on a quest guided only by her desire to find out about a scrap of heavy paper with a picture of "a girl, a robot, and an adult, looking happy" with the words Wond La printed on it. She is also looking for other humans, having been raised underground by a robot called Muthr. What she finds on the surface ar More...

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Aug 01, 2011

Melody rated it:

Eva Nine lives in an underground sanctuary with the robot who has raised her, Muthr. All Eva wants is to be able to go to the surface so she can start searching for fellow humans. She has been training for surface survival for as long as she can remember but Muthr doesn't feel she is ready to leave their sanctuary. Then comes a night when there are explosions and alarms going off. Eva Nine has to escape the sanctuary without Muthr. She vinds out quickly that the surface isn't anything like Muthr More...

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Jun 07, 2011

Sarah rated it:

Centuries in the future, Eva Nine lives in an underground sanctuary with Muthr (her robot mother). She has never seen another human being and doesn’t even know if humans still exist on the planet they live on, called Orbona. In fact, Eva has never been to the surface. She lives a peaceful life (if not a little boring, although they have all the technology one could ask for) until a hunter flushes them out into the open—he wants to capture them so that they can be added to the Queen’s museum a More...

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Jun 15, 2010

Sherrie rated it:

I wish GoodReads allowed half stars because I would definitely give this dystopian middle grade story the additional half star, although it wasn't quite a four star for me. It took me a while to warm up to the book. Maybe I expected it to be more Spiderwick-ish?

Instead we are introduced to 12-year-old Eva Nine, her robot Muthr, and their high-tech underground world. Eva clings to the cardboard scrap of an image with a robot and and a human girl that says WondLa, her proof that others More...

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Feb 15, 2011

Carmine rated it:

When I read J fiction, it is a search for what my young self would have wanted to read and this book one of them. I got completely lost in this strange world of giant hostile insects and mysterious flora. It is sort of a Planet of the Apes meets the Wizard of Oz meets Star Trek.

Twelve year old Eva 9 has lived her entire life in an underground 'sanctuary,' cared for by a surrogate mother robot. They are well equipped with a green house and holodeck and entertainment, but More...

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Apr 09, 2011

Sab rated it:

The W.W. Denslow-type two-color-process-esque illustrations absolutely won me over and had me cracking open my Denslow edition Oz books to admire just how awesome a job DiTerlizzi did.

The story races along, with Eva 9 being a plucky, sympathetic narrator who encounters some of the coolest creatures in fairy tale history that are really just twists and spins on classic steampunk, Narnia, Oz, Wonderland and other critters borrowed -- and brought sailing into the 21st century -- from cl More...

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