Hello, Universe

By: Erin Entrada Kelly

Libby audiobook 5 hours

Read by: Ramon de Ocampo and Amielynn Aberllera

Published: 2017

Genre: Middle Grades realistic fiction, coming-of-age

 

I thought I had read other books by this author, but I just checked and can't find any that I'm familiar with . . . odd.

 

I didn't love this book. My primary issue is with the bully, Chet Bullens, and his father. Their awful, over-the-top behavior and language toward others is clearly meant to show how NOT to be. But Valencia being the only one to really stand up to Chet is disheartening.

 

I also didn't love the focus on the supernatural. Kaori Tanaka and her astrological signs, consulting the omens, advertising herself as a psychic, . . . just got to be a bit much. (In my notes, I wrote "Cowrie" for her name because that's what it sounded like. That makes me grin.)

 

I really liked Valencia Somerset, a deaf girl who has a strong sense of self-worth and what she wants. I also liked her love of nature and her study of the zoological world.

 

Virgil's grandma "Lola" is a fantastic character. Virgil Salinas himself is so timid as to be called "Turtle" by his own parents and older brothers - as in "come out of your shell, Turtle." He doesn't even tell his own family to stop calling him that even though it really bothers him! Naturally, he is a prime target of Chet's bullying.

 

Kaori's little sister Ghen (?) was an irritating little sister. Virgil's Gulliver the hamster was cuter when we learned that the hamster Valencia used to have was called Lilliput!

 

It's really bugging me that I don't have record of reading other books by this author, yet I felt certain I had read at least one book by her previously . . .