Book Review - Tony DiTerlizzi's The Search for WondLa
The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: September 21st, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)
Eva Nine has spent her entire life in an underground sanctuary. For twelve years she has been raised by "Muthr," Multi-Utility Task Help Robot 06, and hasn't wondered much about the world outside the sanctuary's eight rooms. Though she finds an image printed on cardboard that makes her question what the outside world contains. The image appears to be of a young girl with another human and a robot with words above them apparently spelling out "WondLa." Could there be others like her out there? Other humans with robot companions? Soon she will be thrust into that world when her sanctuary is attacked by a large creature named Besteel. Muthr gets left behind as Eva Nine flees for her life. She wanders the forest looking for safety and finds another sanctuary identical to her own. Only this one has been abandoned save for a Cærulean, Rovender Kitt, who is taking refuge in the remains. Sadly Besteel catches up to Eva Nine and her and her new companion are captured. Besteel is a Dorcean bounty hunter seeking out specimens for Queen Ojo's Royal Museum in Solas. Eva Nine and Rovender Kitt are brought to his camp, containing countless other specimens. But Eva Nine doesn't plan to be a embalmed and put on display in a museum. She and Rovender Kitt stage a successful escape, gaining Otto, a giant tardigrade, as their new traveling companion. Returning home Eva Nine finds Muthr in the wreckage and they are able to repair her and the unlikely crew decide to head out in search of clues as to what became of the human race. Which means traveling to Solas and the museum that wants Eva Nine as a specimen. It will be a harrowing journey, but in the end Eva Nine will have some answers. She will find her Wondla.
In the before times when I went to conventions and saw people I loved going to WisCon. I mean, who doesn't want to go to a science fiction convention with a feminist agenda? The authors I have met there over the years have filled my bookish heart with glee. But one aspect of the con I loved more than any other was the arcs you were able to get your hands on. They'd be on a large table and they all cost a dollar. Though prized arcs often ended up in the Tiptree Auction, named after famed science fiction author James Tiptree Jr., the pen name of Alice Bradley Sheldon. In my second year attending I had recently devoured the entirety of The Spiderwick Chronicles and I saw this book in the auction that seemed to conflate the titles of children's classics The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland hopefully creating a new classic written AND illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi of Spiderwick fame. I needed The Search for WondLa but was worried I wouldn't win because I had to put in an absentee bid because I couldn't be there for the auction. But someone knew I needed a win and I was surprised to find out that I was the winning bidder when I showed up to the final day of the convention. And the thing is, I was right about the title, to an extent. He was setting out to make a modern classic on par with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, only heavier on Oz. But the real takeaway is that he succeeded magnificently. It's not just the two-tone illustrations reminiscent of W.W. Denslow that are spot on. But the story feels timeless. There's the joy and wonder of what a child experiences the first time they encounter something new. As a kid I loved exploring museums, and when Eva Nine sees history all in one place for the first time, I felt that connection to my childhood. In that moment I was Eva Nine. But by far the best scene is at the very end. In an homage to the original Planet of the Apes when Eva Nine discovers that what she has been holding onto as a talisman is the cover of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz while in the remains of the main branch of The New York Public Library I actually cried. I knew it was coming but somehow it still shocked me. And that's what the best stories do, make us so invested that even if we see what's coming it hits us hard and it becomes a part of us.
