Universul știe

by Erin Entrada Kelly

In one day, four lives weave together in unexpected ways. Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels out of place in his loud and boisterous family. Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and secretly lonely, and loves everything about nature. Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose little sister Gen is always following her around. And Chet Bullens wishes the weird kids would just act normal so that he can concentrate on basketball. They aren’t friends -- at least not until Chet pulls a prank that traps Virgil and his pet guinea pig at the bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen, and Valencia on an epic quest to find the missing Virgil. Through luck, smarts, bravery, and a little help from the universe, a rescue is performed, a bully is put in his place, and friendship blooms.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Friendship, Audiobook, Young Adult

208 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2017

About the author

Author of books for young people.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

when i say i want diversity in books.........this sh*t is what i mean y'all.

i'm talking effortless, narrative-enriching, full characters who are not defined by their diversity but, at the same time, are affected by it.

EVERYONE TAKE NOTES. EVERYONE.

also, no romance. a romance-like narrative that instead of a romance is about FRIENDSHIP. i swear to you all i love middle grade so much it hurts me. whenever you're getting so tired of YA you could scream (and i know it happens)...middle grade is exactly what you are looking for. it will heal your tired soul.

this book wasn't a nonstop crazefest of fun and festivity (in other words, not terribly exciting), but it wasn't annoying. and it was diverse. and the characters were full.

and sometimes that's all you need my dear boy.

but also i wish this was illustrated.

bottom line: thoughts of this book may well carry me through the next several inevitable sh*tty young adult books. i am empowered and strong and ready. READ THIS BOOK I THINK

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L O O K A T T H I S C O V E R

look at it!!!!!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There are no coincidences.”

I was trying to read this book along with Amina's Voice, but quickly realized it wasn’t working in my favor me because as Ron Swanson likes to say, “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.” So I decided to dedicate my sole attention on this tale, and it was beyond magical.

• We have a phenomenal first chapter from the pov of eleven-year-old Virgil Salinas with a supporting grandmother that tells of her dreams and stories!!
• We also have an incredible cast of diverse characters who won over my heart:
- Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels out of place in his loud and boisterous Filipino-American family.
- Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and secretly lonely, and loves everything about nature.
- Kaori Tanaka,  whose family is Japanese-American, is a self-proclaimed psychic with a little sister Gen as her second-in-command.
• Can we take a minute to talk about how Kaori is one of my favorite characters... I genuinely had the bouts of insta-love the minute this twelve-year-old that doesn't sound like a twelve-year-old because, as she likes to say, “I’m the reincarnated spirit of a 65-year-old freedom fighter” was introduced!!


“Kaori was mildly surprised to get a text from one of her clients (her only client, truth be told) on the first day of summer, particularly at seven forty-five in the morning. But the night before, just as she was gliding to sleep, she’d had the vision of a hawk perched on a giant fence post. Only now she realized it must have been a vulture, not a hawk. And vulture started with V, just like Virgil’s name. The connection couldn’t have been clearer.”

This girl with “her powers of second sight” is something else...

• the humor is on point:

“Something will happen to you,” Kaori continued.
Virgil looked at Gen. She shrugged.
“That’s it?” said Virgil. “Something will happen to me?”
“I see darkness,” said Kaori.
“Your eyes are closed.”

Honestly, dare I say iconic... both for making me laugh out loud and for the subtle foreshadowing thrown in from the author (which I'd thought at first to be just her having a laugh). But circling back to the humor, these brilliantly vivid characters reminded me of the kids from Stranger Things being their best selves on TV!!



And:


• And moving on to Virgil's Lola - aka the best literary grandmother ever - she was a force of nature. I could always count on her old ghost stories and dreams to fully capture my spirit. Also, she's just one hell of a supportive adult!!!

“Sorry, Lola,” Virgil muttered. “I was just thinking about something that happened on the last day of school.”
Lola tossed the garbage pizza in the cart. “What? What happen?” She was always ready to hear gossip, no matter where it came from.”

This is me. This is who I am.

• So as Kaori had foretold to Virgil - “What I mean is, I see you in a dark place.” “Dark how?” “Just dark.” - he'd gotten trapped at the bottom of an old well thanks to the worst of humans throwing Virgil's backpack, which had Gulliver, his pet guinea pig, in it. Which is also when I noticed what the cover, though absolutely gorgeous, happens to spoil if you'd skipped reading the blurb.
• Oh, and circling back to the worst of humans, I have only one thing to say to the bully, Chet Bullens, whose family is probably full of Trump supporters…


• On a more positive note, there's some magical realism aspects thrown in to further enchant my heart.
• And the story continues full of busy happenings that lead to friendship, kinship and family. In the end, I just ended up adoring this group of explorers. Plus, I really hope Tanaka and Somerset will go into business as promised. (Maybe we'll even get a sequel/ novella on that idea...)
• And last but not last, I was as joyful as my girl Valencia from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend when the story ended on such sweet and hopeful note.



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[disco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since it was the 2018 Newbery Medal winner I may have had too high expectations. The diversity was spot on and there are great relationship building experiences and lots of adventure thrown in. I hate that the “R” word was used at all. I really felt like it could have been left out. There was no "lesson learned" from using it, and truthfully this really brought the book down for me.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

Either the Newbery Committees and I vastly differ on what makes a book good or the quality of novels produced in the past few years have just not been that great for them to choose from. There are very few Newbery contenders/winners I have read recently that I have thoroughly enjoyed and thought fit the criteria of being a distinguished and lasting contribution to American literature for children.

I suppose there isn't much wrong with this book per se, I just thought it was boring and a chore to get through. There is a lame conflict to begin with, one-dimensional characters that are pigeon-holed by one defining characteristic or personality trait, an anti-climactic climax, and a pat ending.

The pacing of the first third of the book was too slow for me. I just didn't care that much about Virgil's problem and none of the characters were very relatable to make me want to keep reading about them. I do think that some readers would identify with the characters, but I personally didn't. I liked that we got a glimpse into Chet's relationship with his Dad in order to have some explanation for his bullying. I've come to realize that I like my villains to be fleshed out so that I can understand their motivations, so I'm glad the author didn't just have him be the bully because that's the formula for a middle-grade novel about friendship.

The pacing did pick up about 1/3 of the way through and I was able to power through the remainder in one evening. However, my motivation was more to just be done with it than because I was actually enjoying the story or wanting to know what happens beyond casual interest. Then, the climax was not much of a climax and all of a sudden the characters changed and were happy. It all seemed a little too neat to be truly satisfying. I think there are worse books that have won the Newbery (Last Stop on Market Street, anyone?), but that doesn't mean I'm happy that this did win.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful touching story of friendship and courage and well-deserving of its Newbery Medal! Again, in a fruitless effort to attract my kids - my daughter in particular - to reading English (she is a bit immersed in a fantasy series so it was perhaps just timing), I read this wonderful book about a shy boy (Virgil), a deaf girl (Valencia), a bully (Chet), and a budding psychic and her sister (Kaori and Gen) and how their paths cross one fateful afternoon in the woods between their houses. It is charming and a little scary, but an absolutely wonderful tale that I highly recommend! I think my favorite character was Valencia who describes herself thus: "Right now I'm just a girl eating a sandwich waiting to see what happens next." (p. 193) and I also adored Virgil's grandmother Lola and her many wonderful (if gruesome) stories.

[Victoria Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a writer, this is a great book to teach you about "pure" plots. Each character has an uncomplicated hurdle to overcome, and each character has their own identity without becoming cliches. I really enjoyed this one, and it helped me work through a plot in one of my own manuscripts. Great, clean writing and a great, clean storyline. The ending was particularly well-written and memorable!

[Monica Edinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

My blog review:
There is a certain kind of book that can be tricky for me, a quiet, but emotionally powerful book. I see such books as teetering on tightropes --- balancing just right the heartstrings-tugging, the poignancy, the tenderness, the provoking-of-tears. Too much and I feel manipulated, too little and I just don't care. It is for this reason I was wary when beginning Erin Entrada Kelly's Hello, Universe, but I needn't have been. It is to my mind an exemplar of this sort of book ---- quiet, introspective, moving, witty, and emotional in all the right ways. I liked it so much, in fact, that I've added it to my goodread's Newbery list.  Yes indeed, I think it is that good.

The novel takes place in a single day featuring four middle schoolers. In the center is Virgil Salinas, a highly introverted member of a large extrovert family who call him Turtle "Because he wouldn't 'come out of his shell,' Every time they said it, a piece of him broke." The exception is his Filipina grandmother Lola who calls him Virgilio, gets him completely, and tells him folk tales to bolster him through life's challenges. Virgil has a crush on deaf and confident Valencia Somerset, but is too shy to let her know. And so he has become a client of the young physic Kaori Tanaka who, with her younger sister Gen, intends to help him. Last of all there is Chet Bullens who has bullied Virgil unceasingly.

An encounter in the woods with Chet leaves Virgil in a life-threatening situation. Readers are firmly with him as he reacts to this, tries to figure out what to do, and considers some of Lola's tales as a way to build strength in a dire moment. Here is where my admiration for Kelly's writing really takes hold as she masterfully balances the emotionally of Virgil's circumstances on that tightrope without a misstep. The threads of the other characters move in and out of Virgil's difficulty. We get in Chet's head and, while we learn more about what may have turned him so mean, we don't forgive him for it. Kaori's adult-like serene style is delightfully balanced with her little sister Gen's humorously typical second-grader behavior. Interestingly, while these character storylines are all in third person, Valencia's is in first person; from her tolerance of her father calling her an endearment she could do without to her forthright response to Chet, we easily see how crush-worthy she is.

There is suspense as we hold our breath wondering how Virgil will be saved, there is humor (especially from little Gen), and there is the slow evolution of different personalities, and of what will be, we can be certain, a warm friendship between Virgil, Valencia, and Kaori beyond the book's ending. It may be this is a book for introverts? I can't say, but it provided all that I want in a book for children --- an intriguing plot, beautifully articulated characters, tight and elegant sentences, wit, and opportunity for thought. Hello, Universe is one quiet, emotional book that I recommend highly.

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes indeed, I do well realise that Erin Entrada Kelly's Hello, Universe won the 2018 Newbery Medal (and that themes of bullying and how to deal with bullies are important and as such also immensely and inherently necessary to be featured and promoted as topics in children's literature).

However, and with my apologies to those readers who have actually enjoyed and appreciated Hello, Universe, I just could not in any manner get myself into this novel, with its annoyingly frustrating one-dimensional characters (and across the board at that, as I do not think that any of the characters of Hello, Universe are sufficiently complex, that they all mostly appear as basically one-sided types), and that sadly everything does seem to be entirely written by Entrada Kelly right and smack on the surface, without much if any nuance and character development and indeed majorly frustratingly with especially the many bullies that torment the main protagonist and others in Hello, Universe so cardboard like flat and stereotypical that, well, I could only yawn with immense boredom and shake my head. And really, with in particular bullies (with villains) this all encompassingly one-sided and totally flat as paper, I very quickly lost both interest in and all patience with Hello, Universe, and basically, yes, I did stop reading very early on. But indeed, I certainly have in my opinion spent more than enough time with Hello, Universe to know that Erin Entrada Kelly's one-dimensional storytelling is not at all my cup of reading tea by any stretch of my imagination (and yes, that I am also rather unpleasantly surprised that a novel which in my opinion is first and foremost lacking in any kind of subtlety and character complexity, would be chosen to win the Newbery Award, would actually be considered as supposedly being the BEST American children's literature is offering in 2018, as for me, one star is really all that I can manage, since right from the first pages, Hello, Universe has simply and utterly rubbed me the wrong reading way). And just to say that I did reread Hello, Universe for the Newbery Club (Children's Literature Group on Goodreads) for January 2025 (to see if my one star rating from 2019 might end up going up). But no, I still really have not at all enjoyed Hello, Universe and how Estrada Kelly presents her story and her characters (and that I still find them totally thin and totally annoyingly stereotypical) and that my one star rating will thus also be remaining (and in particular since unlike in 2019, this time around I have actually managed to finish Hello, Universe, but sorry, it was a majorly frustrating and annoying reading experience for me and also to be honest, a pretty huge and massive waste of my reading time).

[Charmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virgil's Lola was my favorite character in this book <3
Lolas (grandmothers) are the most wonderful 🥺

[Rachel Aranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 4 star read by a new to me author. I picked this book as a leap of faith as I haven’t heard anyone really talk about it or recommend it to me. The cover was nice and premise sounded fine enough so I picked it up. In truth, I didn’t start reading it right away as I was in a weird reading funk where nothing seemed to interest me. It was by a “why not?” decision that I finally started this book and boy am I glad I did.

I really like the variety of characters in this book. Wish this kind of diversity had been around when I was a kid. There was diversity of nationalities, disabilities, and beliefs throughout the book. You would think with young kids this would lead to arguments but they mostly accepted everything and asked questions when unsure about something. There were sprinkles of Filipino folklore throughout the book that were delightful to hear/read about too. The ending is open ended, which some readers may like or dislike depending on how they prefer things wrapped up. I personally liked it because everyone can move on with their adventures.

This book reignited my desire to read and I’m so happy for that. It’s a quick read especially if you listen to the audiobook. The two narrators do a good job reading for the different characters as well. If you’re looking for an enjoyable read that has relatable characters and experiences then this is a book I recommend.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's a sweet, subtle book about friendship and standing up for yourself and standing up for your friends. I loved getting to know these characters across the pages. The friendship story reminded me of Doll Bones by Holly Black in the best way possible. The characters just felt real to me and I feel like there would be much more to glean on a reread.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 YA read.

Virgil pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. "What's the point? No one can hear me."

"Of all the questions you ever ask yourself in life, never ask, 'What's the point?' It's the worst question in the world," Ruby said. (PG. 246)

I grabbed this book at the library because it said 'Newbery Winner' and I have actually wanted to focus more on these books. I was disappointed in the story line and plot. It was a fast read but not enjoyable at the end of it all. I liked 'Lalani of the Distant Sea' more than this one by the same author. The only character I enjoyed was twelve-year-old Kaori Tanaka because she tells fortunes and reads the stars. She was a quirky character that I would not have minded reading more about.

Other than that it was "Eh." Winning that award is questionable to how bad the competition was that year....?

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow I was surprised by this book! I love the exploration of a deaf 11-year-old girl attending public school.

My Video Review:

https://youtu.be/jcfP9TFvD78

[Amina · Rating 2 out of 5]

✰ 2.5 stars ✰

“The world looks different through newly opened eyes, Virgilio. It’s the trick of time. What you believe today, you may not believe tomorrow.
Things change when you’re not looking. And then you open your eyes, and you see—”

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Sad to say that this 2018 Newbery Medal recipient did not win any favors with me. Even sadder that Hello, Universe is my third go with Erin Entrada Kelly, and striking out at the third hit really is a downer. 🙎🏻 For as much as I appreciate the unique ways in which she aimed to address certain themes, the prevailing factors of annoyance outweighed the good. 'Some friendships are meant to be' and when you have such a distinctive and diverse cast, it is interesting to see how the stars align for their paths to collide.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ It's sad that it takes Chet, an eleven-year-old ignorant and cruel bully who feels no remorse for his ill-tempered and rude behavior, who by the means of the author chalks it up to his father's influence, but it is the unique way in which this misfits search for a way to connect is what sets off a life-changing adventure for each of them. 😟 From Kaori, a self-proclaimed psychic who communicates with the spirit world, her younger sister, Gen, who definitely amped the vibe with her blithe attitude, Valencia, the deaf girl and the object of Virgil's crush, Virgil a quiet, shy Filipino boy who adores his guinea pig, Gulliver, and who unexpectedly ends up in a precarious position - one which will have all their efforts and powers collide in order for them to rescue Virgil and help each other. ✨

“It’s fate. I know it,” Kaori said. “Somehow the universe figures these things out.”

“How?”

“Like putting them in the same place at the same time, or using a special force like me to help them find their way.”

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I wish I could say that I enjoyed it; it's a simple story with an important message of believing in your strengths and finding courage even in the darkest hour. It weaves a yarn of how we can either rely on nature to take its course or believe in the powers of the universe to guide the way. But, it was just something about it that did not strike a heartwarming chord with me. 'It was an odd sensation to be thinking of someone and have her unexpectedly appear. Like thoughts come to life.' 😥 Perhaps its heavy reliance on whether it was fate or coincidence that led to the events to unfold the way it did made it seem less of an enchanting read. How the universe is being pulled by the strings of fate for life to play out. Yes, I saw the way in which within a span of less than 24 hours' events can play in the hand of making the young children find reason to believe that it was by chance that they met up the way it did, or how certain moments played out how they did. I did not understand either why we had to shift between the first and third person; it made little to no sense, at all. 🙍🏻‍♀️

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ It's just that significant attributes of behavior were not what sat well with me - little points that stood out. Like, I'm not one to dismiss anyone's beliefs or way of life or thinking, but even in a children's book, I think the editors could have excluded the notion of Valencia tossing away the Church proposal in the trash can; regardless of whether she is searching for her own existence in life, this point of inclusion did not sit well with me. And I'm a Muslim. So to even shed light on Valencia questioning her own principles and religious or spiritual beliefs, there was no need to be so blatantly disrespectful to someone else's.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ It's a moot point, but it stood out. Even if you argue that it's only just a short look - nearly not enough time to paint enough of a picture of a bully - but, do you have to have the bully constantly use the word, Retardo? Slurs and derogatory words are not the only way to have a bully behave like a bully, and the extensive use of it did not feel necessary - 'meanness always shows on people’s faces.' 😒 Yes, fine, but it felt so extensive and just rubbed me the wrong way; especially, when no one even calls him out on it for his highly inappropriate comments. At one point, I thought he would get what was coming to him, but even that faded away into nothingness... 😕

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ What further irked me was why did each of these 'distinctive' characters have such a horrible relationship with their parents? Not one redeeming factor to each of their family lives - is that another thing being chalked up to the universe treating it that way? The parents were uncaring and dismissive - just so generally disinterested with their children's well-being - even Virgil standing up to his parents at the end did not feel satisfying. 'I asked my parents once if I could take a class, but they don’t think it’s necessary because of my hearing aids.' 🤨 Like, really? Does this story only work, because they are bound by their own dismissal of their parents? That, perhaps, this was intentional, to show how the universe operates? Valencia's own parents not wishing to teach her sign language, when she's deaf? Kaori addressing her parents as Mr. and Mrs.?? Dismissing their love as something with a hidden meaning to it. If there was a point to this take on parent-children dynamics, I failed to see it. 🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️

“He didn’t know if he believed in fate, but it made sense. How else to explain such a coincidence?”

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I liked Gen; she seemed like the only real and likable character, who may have been the typical younger sister who was always spouting what she thought and felt, but she had a lot of heart and soul to her. Not entirely fazed by the existence of other forces at work, but, rather seeming to appreciate the essence of the presence of the now, itself. That was pleasing to see. Virgil's grandmother, Lola, was the nurturing and understanding voice of the narrative; one who treated Virgil with the care and regard that he so desperately needed to appreciate his own value and worth.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Her words of wisdom as well as her spiritual guidance served as an anchor for Virgil in his darkest hour; the addition of magic to help him believe that he will make it out alive was an interesting surprise, but handled well. 🫂 'People don’t want to listen to their thoughts, so they fill the world with noise.' Was Ruby a figment of his imagination? Or was she a voice of an echo long lost and forgotten - trapped much like he was? And Virgil being trapped in the well was harrowing and vividly haunting in the way the author enhanced his fear of abandonment and loneliness. 😔

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Finding the courage to be brave in the dark and in isolation - it was painful to see but vividly described. 'That was their name for him: Turtle. Because he wouldn’t “come out of his shell.” Every time they said it, a piece of him broke.' 🥺 My heart ached for him at how much sadness and loneliness he carried - wanting to be treated with love and equality by his family, not to be dismissed simply because he was quiet, searching for the right words to approach the girl of his affections - it's all emotions so relatable to a middle grade reader, and portrayed well, too, and how he eventually faced his fears and became a bayani - a hero. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

“It feels anticlimactic after everything, but sometimes things don’t end the way you expect them to.”

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Took the words right out of my mouth! 😮‍💨 It did not feel like a whole read - more like bits that it touched upon and then just left you holding your hand out for more - waiting for it to be complete. Virgil even not having anyone to share in his traumatic ordeal was rather heartbreaking, too! I just wasn't as invested in the story as I could have been; it had potential, but the delivery ran rather stale for me. 'If you didn't have bad things, you wouldn't have good things. They would all just be things. Did you ever think about that?' 🧐 And as much as I can admit that it perhaps was intentional for the author to end in on an abrupt note - one that serves that much of what has already taken place was simply a precursor to a much larger scale of saying Hello to the universe - it still does not make me forget all the unpleasantries that led to this conclusion. Of how so much can feel inconsequential and yet play such a big role in shaping what took place within a day. It feels dismissive and also still leaves the question unanswered of how much of life has us to believe that it is led by fate or simply just a coincidence? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Piya · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I could be wrong. But it seems to me that you feel alone, or maybe you’re afraid of feeling alone. That’s why you get scared when you look around and everyone’s gone. Because it’s like you live in a bubble. Everyone looks at you like you’re invisible. And then one day . . . you are invisible. That would be scary to anyone.”

This was the first book by Erin Entrada Kelly that I read and seeing the way this turned out to be I'm sure I would be reading more of her in the future.

Hello, Universe is a beautiful and touching story about finding your own bayani which basically means Hero. This is a story of Virgil- a very shy boy, whose parents call him Turtle which I thought was cruel, because of course it is cruel. He's constantly bullied by Chet- the bull, a boy from his school who is a real idiot. The only one person who actually understands Virgil is his Lola and I love Lola!! She's the best fiction-grandma ever<3 Also her stories were amazing!
The other two characters are Kaori who is a self-proclaimed psychic with her little sister Gen as 'second-in-command' and Valencia who is deaf although I wouldn't want to define her just by that. She's also brave and really smart.

Really cute and with diverse characters and not that long, this book was fun to read and I think middle grade is my new favorite genre now!

Buddy read with NimNim Nimrat!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I really liked about this book:
1. I love the cover and the artwork at the beginning of each chapter. This is the sort of book I would have been drawn to as a child, simply because of the nature artwork shown.
2. I like how this book was actually a pretty clean read as far as language. I think the words stupid, retard and retardo were the only harsh words used.
3. My favorite character was Valencia. She was deaf and had a strong personality that I admired. I also loved how she kept a nature journal and wrote about squirrels because she also admired Jane Goodall.
4. There were several quotes that I liked. For example: " Crying is good for the soul," said Ruby softly. " It means something needs to be released. And if you don't release the something, it just weighs you down until you can hardly move."

What I didn't like about this book:
Oh, boy. How to say this....well, I feel like the book was drenched in religious philosophy and insinuations that I simply don't agree with. Characters in this book spoke to spirits, held ceremonies to speak to spirits, prayed to a deceased missionary instead of God, consulted crystals for wisdom, proclaimed to have powers of the second sight, interpreted dreams, read the stars, relied on astrology for information, set their phone's ring tone to sound like the bells of a Buddhist monastery, and called themselves psychics. I get the feeling the author was trying to show diversity in each child but this was a big turn off for me.

I also didn't like how the children made their parents out to be idiots. One character referred to her own mom as Mrs. Tanok instead of mom or mother. The general tone toward parents, from all the characters, felt overall negative.

I felt like this book had a lot of potential but it fell flat for me both in plot and the forced religious diversity.

[Nicay · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Of all the questions you ever ask yourself in life, never ask, what’s the point? It’s the worst question in the world.”

I never imagined that I would finish this book in less than one day. As they say, when you are enjoying a good book, you wouldn’t notice how time flies. Plus, middle-grade books are really my cup of tea, because the story of this genre is so simple yet so empowering. When there were times when I read so many substantial books in the past, I would just grab and read light books like the middle-grade books.

To read the full review, click HERE

[Barb Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The is a well-crafted novel with interesting characters and structure. The story is about 11-year-old Vigil Salinas, an introvert who is painfully shy and trying to find his voice by talking to the confident and deaf, Valencia Somerset. He gets help from his close friend, Kaori Tanaka, a Japanese American and her side-kick sister, Gen. Kaori is an entrepreneur that believes her psychic abilities can help others with their problems. Gen is always asking a gazillion questions adding humor to the plot as the annoying and energetic younger sibling. Vigil struggles with standing up for himself against his family and the neighborhood bully, Chet Bullens. His parents tease him and call him "Turtle" waiting for him to come out of his shell. He's the introvert in an extroverted family. His Philippine grandmother, Lola, gets him and respects his quietness and hilariously tells him folk tales where children are eaten by monsters.The author captures the pain of teasing that families so often use when they don't like something about another person that is essential to their character. The parents are not intentionally cruel but don't understand the pain of their name-calling. Chet bullies Vigil but his character is developed to show how Chet's father is a poor role model that leads to Chet being insecure and bullying those around him as a result. His actions are not one-dimensional and more nuanced making for good discussions.

The short chapters help keep the pacing moving along and the structure is brilliant. Valencia Somerset is deaf and her voice is portrayed in first-person, while all the other characters are in third-person. This limited point-of-view not only gives a personal touch that allows the readers to identify closely with Valencia but mimics the isolation a deaf person might feel. Many times, Valencia doesn't understand the person that is speaking because they are not facing her or are looking down. She comments on how often this happens in addition to trying to play games like hide-and-seek with friends but can't hear when they call out, "Ready, set, go!" Her friends appear to like her until the day they tell her she's wrecking the game and rather than figuring out one she can play, they shun her. She ends up having a continual nightmare as a result, where she is isolated in a field staring at an eclipse with a girl in a blue dress with no whites of her eyes showing - her eyes a black iris like the eclipse. This nightmare can symbolize darkness obscuring light or when prejudices blot out the goodness or light in people who are ruled by fear of people that are different from a disability or anyone oppressed or marginalized. This point of view lets the reader step into Valencia's character more closely and understand some of the challenges as well as advantages with her disability whether lip-reading or observing nature without sound.

The two children that have disabilities, Virgil and Valencia, are in the same resource room at school and love the book, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift. They even name their guinea pigs Lilliput and Gulliver. The Lilliputians are afraid of Gulliver's size and welcome him at first before turning against him out of fear. Valencia is accepted by her friend, Roberta, but influenced by those around her later turning against her deafness in fear and ignorance paralleling the Lilliputians. Gulliver's Travels is a satire on politics and the author cleverly parallels the politics of middle school and belonging through subtle references. Gulliver is also an average person who is gifted with learning different languages. This is ironic considering Vigil cannot squeak out even a "hello" to Valencia because he is so shy. And the choice of the name Virgil is symbolic too. Virgil was Dante's guide through hell in Dante's Inferno. Virgil goes through hell; that is falling into a well where he has to find his voice to talk to Valencia and learn to stand up for himself against a bully.

While some might find this slow-paced, I thought the short chapters helped move it along and the gorgeous writing and humor kept me engaged. When I went back to think about sections I started to see quite a bit of symbolism that I mention briefly. There's a lot going on in this book. It isn't going to be for everyone but it is a gem.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the collection of characters, young and old, in this simple story about friendship, and finding your own voice. The way the characters fitted together was like a jigsaw puzzle, and I would totally read more about their adventures and new people they met.

[Sue]

I'll read anything Kelly writes.

[Zey ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

FILIPINO AUTHORS 24 HOUR READATHON

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Erin Entrada Kelly wasn't a debut author when she won the 2018 Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe, but she hadn't been published long. Blackbird Fly (2015) and The Land of Forgotten Girls (2016) were her two previous novels for kids, both well-received enough that it wasn't surprising when her third book sparked conversation that it could contend for the Newbery prizes. Sure enough, Hello, Universe won the most significant children's literature award of its time, introducing Erin Entrada Kelly to many readers (myself included) who had yet to experience her storytelling. Fate is as much a character as any human in this story of five kids who discover over the course of a summer day just how entwined their destinies are. Events line up too neatly to be coincidence as new friendships are forged and old problems resolved in a single twenty-four-hour period. It all begins and ends in these pages.

"That's the problem. People don't want to listen to their thoughts, so they fill the world with noise."

—Ruby, Hello, Universe, P. 195

Virgil Salinas isn't as happy as an eleven-year-old should be for the end of the school year. He wanted to make friends with Valencia Somerset, a girl in class, but couldn't gather the nerve to talk to her. Virgil is the quietest member of his passionate, boisterous family, so reserved that his nickname at home is Turtle, a moniker he dislikes but has never asked his parents to stop using. The friendship he wanted with Valencia didn't happen in school, but Virgil knows someone who might be able to help: Kaori Tanaka. She attends private school, so she doesn't know Valencia, which is just how Virgil wants it. Kaori, assisted by her little sister Gen, claims to be psychic, but even if Virgil is skeptical, he'll try her if it means he might speak with Valencia before the long summer ends.

"Crying is good for the soul...It means something needs to be released. And if you don't release the something, it just weighs you down until you can hardly move."

—Ruby, P. 246

Valencia and Virgil share a problem besides not fitting in socially: Chet Bullens. Chet harasses Virgil for being quiet and Valencia because she's deaf. He doesn't trust that girl: what if she's faking to get sympathy or be allowed leeway by teachers who don't want to be mean to a handicapped student? Chet loathes the idea that she could be receiving undeserved special treatment. Virgil lives not far from Chet, and the morning he heads out for his psychic appointment with Kaori, he takes pains to avoid the bully. If only that had worked. It wouldn't be so bad if Chet just threw Virgil's backpack down the old well, but only Virgil knows that his guinea pig Gulliver is in the backpack. Is his pet dead? This sets off a chain of events that Virgil gets the worst of, and soon he's in danger of more than being pushed around by a mean kid or not befriending a girl he likes. Virgil's life could be in jeopardy if Kaori and Valencia don't happen to meet by what most would call random chance, and discover together that the design of the day's occurrences has been anything but random. These kids may all yet become friends via a sequence of events that would be too outlandish to believe if fate weren't writing the story to satisfy its own wise ends.

"If you didn't have bad things, you wouldn't have good things. They would all just be things. Did you ever think about that?"

—Lola, Hello, Universe, P. 83

Kaori isn't the only one sensitive to the universe's whispers. Virgil's grandmother always seems to sense what's going on with him. She sees her grandson's potential and tells him stories from their Filipino culture to remind him that virtue leads to reward. Most of her stories aren't memorable outside the context of this novel, but at least one has broader meaning. It's about Paulito, who was one inch tall but desired to be king of a village whose people quarreled endlessly. They mocked his wish to lead them. But Paulito carried sand from the beach one handful at a time and built a sand fortress around the village. Ships arrived and the self-absorbed villagers would have been conquered, but the fortress kept them safe, and they appointed Paulito king. The legend shows the difference we can make if we work long and hard and don't give up. Impossible dreams can come true, and fate may select you when you least expect it. As Virgil's teacher, Ms. Murray, once told him, "Sometimes life calls on you even when you don't raise your hand". Will Virgil be prepared when life chooses him for a role in the drama with Valencia, Kaori, Gen, and Chet? Will you be ready in your own life when fate picks you?

Hello, Universe is a nice story, though it doesn't strike me as Newbery material. I never got a strong sense why Virgil felt compelled to be Valencia's friend, but he did, and that's good enough for me. I empathize with Valencia for the unfair discrimination she faced. Being told a while back by her group of friends at the time that they didn't want to play with her anymore because her deafness was too much trouble to deal with...it stirs the reader's emotions. Isn't a friend worth a lot of trouble? I wouldn't have given this book a Newbery, but I appreciate its open heart, and I see why some readers love it. Congratulations on the Newbery Medal, Erin Entrada Kelly. I look forward to reading more of your work.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know how the first couple of chapters of a book gives the back story and you know it’s necessary but you usually spend the whole time anxiously awaiting for the story to begin? (I do, at least.) I felt like almost this entire book was the “backstory.” The whole thing was very meh. It was....boring. I didn’t have any strong feelings because there was nothing to have strong feelings about. I’m used to most of the Newbery Books being less than stellar but even that dumb Rabbit Hill was more exciting than this. I hate The Mixed-Up Files...but at least it made me feel something. (Utter loathing.) This book very literally put me to sleep.

*There will be spoilers below, if a story this boring can actually have spoilers.*


There were three things that I liked:

1. Lola - a lovely character.

2. Lola’s stories. I enjoyed those the most.

3. The story of Chet with his dad. I liked that small insight since, otherwise, he was a one-dimensional character that was a very stereotypical TV bully. No originality at all.


Many things that I didn’t like:

1. Virgil. I know we’re supposed to be sympathetic towards Virgil, but, I’m sorry, he’s a freaking idiot. The thing is, I was Virgil to a point. I was painfully shy. I was scared to talk to boys and generally felt nervous around people. The big difference was, I was not an idiot. I would not carry a rodent around in my backpack where he could get squashed and poo everywhere, I would not go wandering through the woods by myself, I would not jump into a well (I would go for help like a smart person), I would definitely say thank you to someone that saved my life, and honestly, I would feel sad and scared but I wouldn’t be a whiny baby, I’d keep looking for a way out.

2. Pah and the “ghost.” I’m sorry, but I really had a hard time believing that a modern child, even one like Virgil, would believe that a giant bird was coming down a well to destroy him. And the ghost was just stupid and out of the blue. I couldn’t tell if the author meant for them to be symbolic of Virgil’s fear and hidden inner strength. There were other ways that could’ve manifested that would’ve been more believable.

3. The parents. All these kids seem to come from nice families but their parents don’t seem to care. It didn’t seem realistic, in the sense that I believe the parents would’ve worried more about them based on what we know. From what the author herself says to describe the families I think these parents would’ve known more fully what their kids were up to. My mom was a working mother and pretty chill. She didn’t keep us tightly controlled but if she hadn’t heard from us in an hour or so she’d definitely check to make sure we were alright and that was pre-cell phone era. In this day and age of kidnappings and other horrible things my experience is that parents are much more tightly wound and want to know exactly what is going on with their children. I just didn’t find the parents realistic. And maybe the author purposely did that because this is a story about kids, I don’t know.

4. Chet. All around a terribly written character. He was stupid and showed no development.

5. Valencia visiting a complete stranger. The author addressed it somewhat, but I was appalled she had one of her MCs going to meet a complete stranger. My brain was screaming DANGER DANGER DANGER. Even adults shouldn’t be heading to complete stranger’s house alone without telling anyone where they’re going. What a horrible example to set for children.

6. Using the word “retard.” I cringed every time I read this word and it was used MANY times. I think she could’ve had Chet call Virgil any number of different names that would’ve showed how cruel he was. I’m not sure why this was basically the only word in her repertoire.

7. The ending. I was considering giving this story two stars because it’s not as bad as other books I’ve read, but the ending was so awful it bumped it to one star. After all that crap we didn’t even get to see Virgil talk to Valencia. It was so stupid and anti-climatic. As a shy child, I did like reading books about shy kids, but I liked seeing them overcome their shyness to some degree because it gave me hope that I could too and a text saying “hello” simply doesn’t cut it, nor does telling your mom to stop using a nickname. Virgil showed only a hair’s width more growth than Chet. At least the female characters were fairly interesting.

8. How did this win the Newbery?

[Nate Balcom · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's stories like this one that shake my faith in the ALA and dull the shine of the Newbery Medal. I may have totally missed the jive with this book (if so please enlighten me) but... Little plot, semi-engaging characters, and strange out-of-know-where (and never explained) voices are just a few of the reasons I disagree with the awarding of the 2018 Newbery to Hello, Universe. My biggest concern though, is that the librarians who are choosing the Newbery books are FAR out of touch with what good children's literature is and what children enjoy in books. This book doesn't stand a chance next to other winners such as: When You Reach Me; The Graveyard Book; The Giver; The Westing Game; A Wrinkle In Time; Maniac Magee; and on and on.

ALA members... I really think you need to step up your game on the Newbery winners.

[Georgia Ball · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took at least eight chapters for the action to start in this book. Starting with a hook must be for lesser mortals.

[Cindy Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello, Universe was an amazing book about the journey of friendships. 5 kids, each one with a different personality, somehow became friends. Virgil, the main character, was a shy and stubborn middle schoolboy. He got teased a lot by his family and his friends about being timid. He was scared to talk to his family, his friend, and his crush. Valencia, Virgil's crush, is deaf and barely has any friends at school. Chet was a bully who liked to pick on Virgil because of how weak Virgil was. But throughout the story, you would learn that he actually wasn't confident in himself. And the last 2 characters in the story were Kaori and Gen. They were sisters and I would say they are pretty different from other kids. Kids would be outside playing with balls or drawing butterflies at home. But they two would be studying about different beliefs and gods. Pretty weird. Later on in the story, the 5 characters worked together to help out one of their friends. Overall, really recommend this book!!!

[Minh Nhân Nguyễn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 sao

Newbery tiếp tục là giải thưởng bảo chứng cho chất lượng của một cuốn sách thiếu nhi :). Cuốn này mới xuất bản bên Mỹ năm 2017 và nhận giải thưởng cùng năm nên mình cũng khá bất ngờ khi nó được mua bản quyền sớm đến vậy, từ một nhà làm sách cũng còn khá mới.

Lúc đầu nhìn tên sách mình cứ tưởng n�� thuộc thể loại phiêu lưu viễn tưởng ấy chứ, nhưng thực chất nội dung sách khá đơn giản, chỉ xoay quanh mối quan hệ của các cô cậu học trò cấp 2 với nhau thôi. Điểm đặc biệt của cuốn này nằm ở các nhân vật và cách kể chuyện của nó. 4 nhân vật chính, Virgil, Valencia, Kaori và Chet, mỗi chương truyện đều xoay quanh một nhân vật, cho phép người đọc cảm nhận được suy nghĩ, tâm trạng của từng người theo diễn biến của câu chuyện. Đặc biệt là chương về Chet- nhân vật bắt nạt tưởng như đã quá quen thuộc trong những câu chuyện học đường rồi - nay được khai thác rõ hơn, và người đọc nhận ra cậu cũng chỉ là một đứa nhóc với những tâm tư, lo lắng không muốn thể hiện ra bên ngoài. Hay những suy nghĩ, lý do có phần ngô nghê của Chet khiến cậu cho rằng việc bắt nạt Virgil hay Valencia là hợp lẽ, là sự khai thác mới lạ, thú vị của tác giả so với những cuốn cùng thể loại.

Các nhân vật chính cũng là những sáng tạo mới mẻ, thú vị của tác giả. Một cậu bé có xuất thân gia đình từ Phillipin đang định cư trên đất Mỹ, vẫn luôn được gợi nhớ lại nguồn gốc của mình qua các câu chuyện kể “đầy twist” của bà nội. Sống cùng 2 người anh trai mà cậu thấy lúc nào cũng hoàn hảo hơn mình, lại thêm bố mẹ không tâm lý khi đem tính cách nhút nhát của cậu ra làm trò đùa, làm cho cậu ngày càng khép mình hơn nữa. Virgil đúng là kiểu trẻ em châu Á sống ở Mỹ điển hình, luôn sợ sệt, tự ti đến nỗi cúi đầu chịu trận mỗi khi bị tên Chet bắt nạt, kể cả xúc phạm đến mình; không dám thể hiện bản thân đến nỗi không thể mở lời kết bạn với một cô bé mình có cảm tình.

Kiểu tính cách như Virgil mà sống ở châu Á mình cũng là có vấn đề tâm lý cần có sự quan tâm của mọi người rồi, huống gì đặt ở bối cảnh nước Mỹ thì lại cần đến sự can thiệp giúp đỡ sớm nếu không cuộc sống sẽ còn khổ sở hơn bội phần. May mà Virgil còn có người bạn thân duy nhất là Kaori, một cô bé có hoàn cảnh khá giống cậu khi xuất thân từ gia đình có nguồn gốc Nhật Bản sang định cư ở Mỹ. Kaori cũng “khác người” không kém khi say mê chiêm tinh và các thứ huyền bí, tự xem mình là một nhà bói toán bận rộn trong việc giải quyết vấn đề của khách hàng (duy nhất) là Virgil. Nhưng khác với cậu bạn của mình, cô bé là một người tràn đầy năng lượng, có cuộc sống sôi nổi và háo hức trước những thứ chờ đợi phía trước. Cũng nhờ cực nam châm trái dấu này mà Virgil có cơ hội va chạm với những tình huống mới lạ bên ngoài vỏ ốc của mình, từ đó dần trưởng thành hơn.

Tiếp theo là Valencia, tác giả đặc biệt để cho cô bé xưng “tôi” thay vì kể ở ngôi thứ ba như các nhân vật khác. Có lẽ là vì Valencia chín chắn hơn, có nhiều thứ để nói hơn khi không thể lắng nghe trọn vẹn như những người bạn khác. Cũng như Virgil, cô bé đang mắc kẹt trong việc tạo mối quan hệ với người khác, nhưng cũng đủ mạnh mẽ để chấp nhận điều đó và tập trung vào những thứ mình yêu thích như vẽ tranh hay nghiên cứu về động vật trong rừng. Nếu không gặp Kaori và sau đó là Virgil thì chắc cô bé cũng không biết được mình cũng có thể có một người bạn thân thật sự.

Những nhân vật khác như cô em Gen của Kaori hay bà Lola của Virgil tuy ít xuất hiện nhưng cũng tạo ấn tượng dễ mến, thú vị, sẽ còn được nhớ đến sau khi khép sách lại. Tuy nhiên cuốn này có nhiều điểm mình thấy chưa ổn như thời gian truyện hầu như diễn ra chỉ trong 1 buổi nên diễn tiến khá nhanh, nhân vật chưa có cơ hội được khai thác sâu hơn nữa, ngoại trừ cậu bé Virgil. Nhưng đoạn “trò chuyện” ở dưới giếng dù thể hiện được nội tâm của cậu nhưng nó đề cập đến yếu tố tâm linh/ tâm lý hơi đột ngột, không phải là không hợp lý nhưng nếu trước đó tác giả cho thấy rõ hơn sự ảnh hưởng đến Virgil từ những câu chuyện cổ tích của bà Lola thì người đọc sẽ dễ chấp nhận chi tiết đó hơn. Nói chung người lớn khi đọc cuốn này sẽ thấy bình thường và hơi nhạt, nhưng đối với đối tượng thiếu nhi thì đây là một cuốn sách thú vị, dí dỏm và bài học nó đem lại cũng rất quan trọng và bổ ích.

[debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 THis won the Newberry, and that is the only reason I kept reading. I can not imagine what aged reader would read this. The characters, the dialogue, the plot- nothing there IMO, and I usually very much enjoy YA and middle school literature. I couldn't wait for this to end, and even the ending was an "underwhelment"

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

By page 37, the word "retard" has been used 3 times.

I might stop reading.

Very disappointed.

By page 38- used 6 times. I am done.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shy Virgil, age eleven, is having trouble learning his multiplication tables, so he goes to the resource room at his school every Thursday. Every week, he sees Valencia, a fellow student who is deaf and wears hearing aids. He is interested in getting to know Valencia better, but he's not sure how to approach her. He decides to enlist his friend Kaori Tanaka, who claims to be a psychic, to help him figure out what to do. Before he can fully take advantage of her services, however, a bully attacks him, and he and his guinea pig, Gulliver, end up trapped in a well. Now Virgil is convinced that not only will he never speak to Valencia, but he might never even be found.

After being let down by the 2019 Newbery winner, Merci Suarez Changes Gears, I became curious about the 2018 medal winner. Sadly, Hello, Universe seems to suffer from the same strains of mediocrity that made Merci Suarez Changes Gears such a disappointment. As I read, I imagined a diversity checklist, and with the introduction of each new character, I checked another box. It feels as though the author tried to ensure that her book would be as inclusive as possible by including as much diversity as possible, whether it contributed to the story or not. Because there are so many main characters, none of them are as well-developed as they could be, and they all feel like token representations of their minority groups rather than three-dimensional characters.

These characters are also presented as victims - of clueless parents, unbelievably stereotypical bullies, and general misunderstanding about their identities. The portrayal of bullies is especially bothersome, as both Virgil's bully, Chet, and Valencia's former best friend, Roberta sound like stock characters from a 1990s teen drama. Chet uses the words "retardo" and "pansy" which I don't think I've ever heard in real life. Every bully I've ever encountered has had subtler material. This book also perpetuates the stereotype that kids like Chet get their attitudes from their fathers. The story needs a villain, but Chet and his dad are both too cartoonish to feel like real threats. Roberta and the group of girls who ask Valencia not to hang out with them anymore are also not believable tormentors; their dialogue sounds like it was lifted from an after-school special. Any kid who has been bullied will recognize that this book does not understand how it feels.

Additionally, this book presents some problematic religious practices that would prevent me from recommending it to a Catholic family. Kaori relies on crystals and horoscopes to supposedly predict the future. Virgil talks to a mythical character when he is trapped in the well who talks about writing letters to the universe. Valencia prays to a saint, not for intercession, but seemingly as a form of worship. In that sense the book shares the same relativistic point of view as the 2017 Newbery Honor book, The Inquisitor's Tale, but at least it doesn't pretend to do anything else.

Each time I read a recent Newbery book, either a medal winner or an honor book, I become more convinced that this award can no longer be trusted to recognize books for their literary merit. This book is not distinctive, nor do I see what it might contribute to the canon of children's literature over a period of more than five years. All it does well is that it includes diversity, and that's a quality that serves a political agenda, not a literary one. From the start, the book feels laden down by all the pandering it does to the so-called "diversity Jedi," and even at its best moments, it still feels like it's trying too hard. Valencia is the strongest character, and I think telling just her story would have made for a better and more cohesive novel. The attempt to be all things to everyone really impacts the overall quality of the story in a negative way.

Hello, Universe is eminently forgettable. Newbery winner or not, no one is missing anything by not reading this book. If you're looking for a book about the interconnectedness of different people, and the uncanny ways in which important friendships sometimes form, Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins, the 2006 Newbery Medal winner, is a much better choice. Goodbye, Stranger by Rebecca Stead (2015) is another good alternative. And if you really want to read about what it's like to be trapped in a well, there's a better book for that too: The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers, published in 2016.

This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.