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Summary
Summary
When a marauder destroys the underground sanctuary that Eva Nine was raised in by the robot Muthr, the twelve-year-year-old girl is forced to flee aboveground. Eva Nine is searching for anyone else like her, for she knows that other humans exist, because of an item she treasures--a scrap of cardboard on which is depicted a young girl, an adult, and a robot, with the strange word, "WondLa." Tony DiTerlizzi honors traditional children's literature in this totally original space age adventure: one that is as complex as an alien planet, but as simple as a child's wish for a place to belong.
Author Notes
Tony DiTerlizzi was born in Los Angeles, California on September 6, 1969. He received a degree in graphic design from the Florida School of the Arts and the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in 1992. He spent six years working as a freelancer for TSR, the publisher of Dungeons and Dragons. His first picture book, Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure was published in 2000. He won the University of Chicago's Zena Sutherland Book Award for Ted and a Caldecott Honor in 2003 for The Spider and the Fly. He has written and illustrated numerous books including Adventure of Meno, G is for One Gzonk!, Kenny and the Dragon, and A Hero for Wondla.
He met author Holly Black during a magazine interview on his work for Dungeons and Dragons. Together, they created two series: The Spiderwick Chronicles and Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles. In 2008, a live action adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles was made by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Twelve-year-old Eva Nine has spent her entire life raised by Muthr, a robot, in an underground compound on planet Orbona in the first book in Tony DiTerlizzi's dazzling fantasy series. When their Sanctuary is attacked by an evil hunter, Eva must venture above ground. On her search to find other humans, she meets a blue creature named Rovender. There are many perils in this strange land of trees that eat birds, giant water bears, and horrible sand snipers. With Rovender's aid, Eva Nine reunites with Muthr and communicates telepathically with a young water bear she rescues. This suspenseful fantasy ends on a very shocking note, leaving listeners wishing that the sequel was already available. This dazzling fantasy is superbly narrated by actress Teri Hatcher. She changes tone and timbre as she voices the many fantastical creatures and different languages, completely drawing listeners in with superb pacing. She completely draws in the listener with superb pacing. The book's artwork helps readers visualize the unique environment and can be accessed from the CDs with a computer and webcam. However, DiTerlizzi's writing is so visual and Hatcher is such an excellent narrator that listeners really don't need to consult the illustrations. Listeners will eagerly await the next installment.-B. Allison Gray, Santa Barbara Public Library System, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Spiderwick Chronicles coauthor DiTerlizzi introduces 12-year-old Eva Nine, who lives centuries in the future and is trying to discover whether she is the last human being on an alien world, in this series launch. After a hunter forces her out of Sanctuary-where she's been raised by a robot, Muthr-she finds a hostile world like nothing she has learned about or trained for. She makes friends, including a wanderer named Rovender and a telepathic "water horse" she calls Otto, but also finds unexpected enemies. While there is less imaginative variety than in the Spiderwick books, and the world does not seem as fully envisioned, there is still wonder aplenty in this tense, chase-filled journey to engage young readers, plus twists for adult fans of Twilight Zone-styled stories. The bond between Eva and her friends is well drawn, and Otto, happily, is more than just a human in alien form. DiTerlizzi's evocative, detailed pen illustrations (not all seen by PW), which have a retro Star Wars vibe, and interactive maps online, unlocked via Augmented Reality, contribute to a sense of adventure as Eva dives into the unknown. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Excerpts
Excerpts
CHAPTER 1: ALONE Eva Nine was dying. The tiny scarlet dots on her hand mirrored the glowering eyes of the snake that had just bitten her. Sitting down on the prickly ground of dead brown pine needles and small cones, she felt the curdled coil of nausea wind its way up her throat from her stomach. She dropped the sweaty handful of moss that she had scooped up from the forest floor. "Kindling," her Omnipod had instructed her earlier in its chirpy voice. "Find a flammable substance such as dry twigs or moss to begin your fire." The large gathering of boulders Eva had found had seemed like the perfect place to make a shelter for the night, and the surrounding area was blanketed in ashen puff-patches of reindeer moss. As she had knelt down to gather a clump, Eva had realized there was a rust-colored, mottled snake just next to her, sunning itself in the fading light. She'd realized too late, though, to avoid its bite. Now, with trembling hands, she fumbled through her dingy satchel to retrieve her Omnipod. The handheld metallic device was flat, like a magnifying glass, with a small circular hole in the middle of it that resembled an eye. Eva's heart pounded, as if trying to escape her chest. She swallowed, interrupting the hectic meter of her breathing. The shoulder patch on her tunic blinked off and on in warning. "This is Eva Nine," she whispered into the Omnipod. "Initiate I-M … um, I-M …" Eva closed her eyes and concentrated. She put the device to her forehead, as if the Omnipod would whisper to her brain the command she needed. "Greetings, Eva Nine. How can I be of service?" the device chirped. "I … um …" Her hands shook. "I need you to initiate Independent Medical--" "Do you mean Individual Medical Assistance? IMA for short?" the Omnipod corrected her. "Yes," she answered, licking her dry lips and trying to hold her insides in. "Is this an emergency?" "Yes! I need help right away!" Eva yelled at the Omnipod. "What is the nature of your emergency?" "S-snake bite," Eva said with a gulp. The nausea lurked just under her tongue, ready to leap out. "Hold, please. Initiating Identicapture." Eva watched as three tiny lights on the Omnipod flickered in a rhythm around its central eye. "Begin Identicapture of said snake. We need to determine if it is a poisonous species or not." Through glassy eyes Eva scanned her immediate area; she could no longer focus on the terrain around her, let alone find a snake disguised as the forest floor. Her eyes rolled up into her head. Her breathing slowed. She let the Omnipod slip from her fingers. Eva fell back, like a slain giant collapsing in a miniature forest of moss. She looked up at the fading light of the cobalt blue sky. Her Omnipod lay alongside her as it repeated, "Please begin Identicapture." All Eva could whisper was, "Dead. I'm totally dead." A voice from the heavens echoed through the landscape. It was a kind and graceful voice, like the sort she'd heard coming from a beautiful woman in an old movie. "Eva. Eva, dear, please get up," the voice said. Just like in an old moving picture, Eva could also hear the slightest bit of static hidden in the dulcet intonation. The pine trees seemed to whisper the girl's name as the cool of evening blew in. Somewhere in the distance a whip-poor-will beckoned the night. Eva cracked open her pale green eyes into little slits. "Eva Nine," urged the voice, "get up." The girl rolled onto her side. Lying on the forest floor, she examined the tuft of moss in her hand. She saw that the delicate network of stalks really did make it look like a shrunken tree, albeit a washed-out lifeless one. How does such an insignificant plant survive in a big world? she wondered. What is its purpose? What is my purpose? "Eva, please--" "I'm dead," Eva announced to the sky. "Or couldn't you tell? I'm gone. Deceased. No more. Deeeaaaaad!" She turned her attention back to the little moss tree and pouted. "It's not like you have to worry about that," she muttered. The clump of moss in her hands vanished, dissipating into a cloud of light motes. Eva curled up into a ball, shutting her eyes as the world around her also evaporated into nothingness. Emptiness. The voice was right next to her now. "Eva, what happened?" "Leave me alone," the ball replied. "You were not paying attention," the voice said with a sigh. "You had a ninety-eight percent chance of discovering the snake, had you done a simple LifeScan sweep. It was right there in plain view." Still curled in a ball, Eva said nothing. "Of course, I have to mark you as a failure on this particular survival skill test. We shall try it again tomorrow. All right?" said the voice. A warm hand brushed Eva's half-braided dirty-blond hair. At last Eva stood up. Two dark orbs, emitting an amber glow from deep within, reflected Eva's own face in a distorted fashion, like a fish in a fishbowl. Large automated eyelids clicked open and closed in a lifelike manner. Several other eyes, small and unblinking, studied the girl, recording endless data and sending it to a computerized brain. A brain that was contained in two metallic canisters mounted on the back of a head--the front of which displayed a mechanized silicone-rubber face. "What is going on with you, Eva?" the automated lips mimed. "This test should have been effortless for you to pass. Is everything all right?" One of the robot's telescoping arms extended from a carousel of several additional arms folded up around the cylindrical torso. Four wiry fingers, also tipped in silicone rubber, rubbed Eva's shoulders in a reassuring fashion. "How is your concentration?" the robot asked. "I noted that you did not rest a full ten hours last night, which indicates that you may not have achieved enough REM sleep. That can have quite an effect on your performance." "Not now, Muthr." Eva shrugged the robot off. "I need to be alone." She crossed the wide squarish white room and headed for the low doorway. Buff-colored rubbery floor tiles absorbed the sound of her plodding footsteps. Though the chamber was only dimly lit, there was still enough light coming from the holo-projectors mounted around the ceiling to show that the room itself was empty of anything … except for the human girl and the pale blue robot. Eva sulked as she shuffled into the main hub of her living quarters. When the large doors to the holography chamber slid shut behind her, a pastoral scene was projected onto them in vivid detail. Cottony clouds drifted aimlessly across a brilliant azure sky over distant lavender mountains. This gave the effect that the entire hub was like a grand outdoor gazebo, displaying a magnificent vista in the round--though one projection was not working properly and flickered into a corresponding nighttime scene, ruining the illusion. "Welcome back, Eva Nine." The intercom spoke in a relaxed tone. Its words reverberated throughout the octagonal chamber. "How may I help you?" Water trickled in a distant stream, and songbirds sang, filling the vestibule with ambient sounds coinciding with the scenery. "Hi. Please open bedroom doors, Sanctuary," Eva said, stomping across the hub toward the far window. Projected on it was a spectacular view of a misty waterfall cascading down from a colossal mountaintop. The cast image crackled when the girl passed through it, as through a holographic curtain, into the open doors of her dimly lit bedroom. "Close doors, please." Eva flung her jackvest onto her medi-seat. She sat down on the edge of her foam bed and kicked off her sneakboots. As she flopped back onto the oval mattress, Eva stared up at the myriad of pipes and exhaust shafts that wound through her white ceiling. There were water stains on the corner ceiling tiles of the small room, like large ochre flowers blooming from the pipes. One of the overhead lights flickered in an annoying, erratic tempo. With her hands behind her head, Eva rubbed the raised round mole on the nape of her neck. The warmth of her electric bed permeated through her tunic in a comfy sort of way. Her eyelids drooped, and she had begun to doze off when her bedroom doors slid back open. "Eva, you forgot your equipment satchel and Omnipod back in the holo-chamber," Muthr said, rolling into her room balanced on a single tread-worn wheel. "Honestly, dear, how can you expect to pass your training if you do not take care of your things?" "Muthr!" Eva continued staring up at the stained ceiling, refusing to look Muthr in the eye. "Just leave it. I'll put it away later." The robot picked Eva's dingy jackvest up from the chair. The discarded garment had been perfectly hidden among the stuffed toys, dirty clothes, and electra-papers that were strewn about the room. "Put it away as you have done with the rest of your belongings? I sometimes wonder--" "Please, Muthr, I just want to be alone for a while," Eva barked at the ceiling. Muthr hung the jackvest on the empty row of coat hooks lining the wall. "Dinner is at eighteen hundred hours. Please be timely, Eva," Muthr said. After Muthr rolled out of the room, the doors slid shut behind her. Eva reached under her head and grabbed her pillow. As she squeezed it over her face, she screamed. © 2010 TONY DITERLIZZI Excerpted from The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.