Hello, Universe

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 18, 2017

Review

Kelly weaves together the voices of four very different characters in this thoughtful book for upper elementary/early middle school readers. Virgil is painfully shy, Valencia is brave, deaf, and lonely, Kaori is a burgeoning psychic with a sure sense of self who only works with other kids, and Chet is a bully. Instead of devolving into stereotypes though, Kelly gives each child an inner voice, with alternating chapters, where we see multiple layers of thinking; no one is all one thing and all have reasons that they do things, not that it means the reader has to like them, but there can at least be understanding. Virgil would like to be friends with Valencia, who is his classmate, but he can't get up the nerve to speak with her. He seeks out help from Kaori, who attends a different school and who is working on getting the universe to give up its secrets in order to get Virgil and Valencia to meet. Valencia has been having a terrible nightmare, so she also seeks out Kaori's help. Chet, also a classmate of Virgil and Valencia, feels like he has something to prove and wishes that all of the "weird" kids would stop getting in his way. When the prank Chet pulls on Virgil goes awry, Virgil ends up trapped in the bottom of a well. Readers will turn the pages as quickly as possible to see if the universe really can work its magic to rescue Virgil, enlighten Chet, and bring new friendships together. The lovely ending is thought-provoking and will leave readers wanting another story about these quirky characters.

Overall Book Score: very good