Review: Hello, Universe

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 out of 5 stars. I struggled with how to rate & review this book. There are definitely some good points, but I found it to really drag for the first half and to be too predictable. Ok, but certainly not "the most distinguished book in children's literature" for 2017, which is what the Newbery medal is supposed to mean.

Four very different kids: Virgil, painfully shy and insecure; Valencia, strong and smart; Kaori, the good-hearted fortune teller and mystic, and Chet, the bully. One fated day when their lives intersect in the nearby woods. Some say there are no coincidences...

I'll start with what I like about it, which were the characters. The characters are fairly well-developed, at least as well-developed as they can be in a relativey short, middle-grade novel. I particularly liked Valencia, with her inner strength, interest in nature, and intelligence; and Kaori's fascination with "second sight" and sincerity in using it to help others. At times, I found Virgil's inability to speak up for himself frustrating and annoying, but I loved his Lola and their relationship, the way she stuck up for him in the family and encouraged him.

I also really liked the way the author showed what Chet (the bully) was thinking, revealing his bullying was because of his own fears and insecurities, and following the example set by his father. It was interesting how Chet didn't really know what his father did, but envisioned him has being someone very important at whatever it was, while I in turn imagined him as some low-level manager or supervisor, frustrated because he can't go any higher, frustrated with having to take orders, who then bullies other people to try to make himself feel superior.

The other positives are a very satisfying (if predictable) ending, and a very diverse cast of characters reflecting various ethnicities and abilities that are well-integrated into the story. Too often it feels like an author is just throwing in everything but the kitchen sink to check off boxes and score points for diversity, and it's just districting, artificial, and annoying, but that was happily not the case here.

What I didn't like about the book is that is seemed to drag on so slowly in the beginning, and so much of it was predictible. You knew Chet was going to do something to Virgil that was going to be the real start of the story and bring all the characters together, and you just wanted it to hurry up and happen already! It seemed to take forever to get to the real story, and the ending was completely predictible. You knew that new friendships would be made and expected that Virgil would finally find his voice, it was only the some of the details along the way that were unknown.

I think this is an enjoyable enough read and would still recommend it to kids aged 8-12, but it just didn't live up to my expectations of a Newbery winner. I just don't find anything particularly distinguishing about it. I guess the diversity of the characters and the fact that the author is a person of color make it stand out, but I find neither the writing nor the highly predictible and hardly unique plot to be anything more than average, certainly not the "most distinguished" children's book of the year overall. I can think of others I would rank higher.

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