A Mango-Shaped Space

Mass, Wendy. A Mango-Shaped Space. Little, Brown and Company: New York, 2005.

A Mango-Shaped Space is the heartwarming story of a young girl, Mia, who has synesthesia and has to learn to cope with her disability at school and with her family and friends.

Mia tries to tell herself that she is normal, and that the fact that numbers, letters, and sounds having specific colors associated with them is not abnormal. However, she quickly learns that she is out of the ordinary and struggles to keep her synesthesia a secret in fear of being ostracized by her family and friends. However, when her secret is announced Mia’s family does not think she is abnormal. If anything, they are amused by her disability and help her find a diagnosis and help her to do better in school. Through times of grief and times of success, Mia learns that she is anything but abnormal, just special and unique.

Before reading this book I had never heard of synesthesia or anything like it. Reading A Mango-Shaped Space was a great learning experience for me as well as a very entertaining piece of literature to read and I would suggest this book to anyone who likes to read, even if you do not have an interest in learning disabilities. The article “Teaching Students “Teaching Students About Learning Disabilities Through Children’s Literature” by Prater, Dyches, and Johnstun, mentions that there are a few aspects that need to be seen in children’s literature in order for them to be high quality. A few of these characteristics are that the book creates awareness, understanding, and acceptance. I think that A Mango-Shaped Space achieved all of these aspects and was very informational for the reader.