A Mango-Shaped Space
1st edition copy
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| Author | Wendy Mass |
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| Cover artist | Alison Impey |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Realistic Fiction |
| Publisher | Little, Brown Young Readers |
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Publication date
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April 16, 2003 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) & Paperback), audiobook |
| Pages | 221 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 50803170 |
| LC Class | PZ7.M42355 Man 2003 |
A Mango-Shaped Space (2003) is a young adult novel by Wendy Mass. The plot centers around Mia Winchell, a thirteen-year-old girl living with synesthesia, a jumbling of the senses: Words and sounds have color for her. Her synesthesia causes her problems in school, with friends, and winning the understanding of her parents and peers. The book received the American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award in 2004. It has since been nominated for, and received, a number of other awards. The hand lettering for the cover is by Billy Kelly. The book is recommended for grades 5-8. A 7 hours long audiobook version, narrated by Danielle Ferland, has been produced.
In a prologue, Mia first experiences ridicule at the hands of her third-grade classmates when she is called to the front of the room to do a math problem. She uses colored chalk to make the numbers fit into the synesthetic form she sees. Her teacher tells her to stop making up silly stories and that numbers have only shape and value and no colors. Mia is left confused and alone, because she thought everyone saw letters and colors the same way. After that, Mia keeps her synesthesia a secret and her classmates forget about the incident.
When Mia is twelve, her beloved grandfather is gravely sick. He later passes from a deadly disease known as chemiosmosis. On her grandfather's grave, Mia finds a white and grey kitten with eyes the same color as her grandfather's. She believes that part of her grandfather's soul is living in that kitten. She takes him home and names him Mango the Magnificent; not because of his orange eyes, but because his meows and his heavy wheezing are different shades of orange to her, like a mango in different seasons. The wheezes are actually caused by a deep rip in the lining of one of Mango's lungs, which cannot be repaired, but Mango copes with it by taking pills.
One day, when Mia is at the grocery store with her mother, she meets someone who could very well share her condition: a 5-year-old boy named Billy Henkle, who sees her name as orange with purple stripes. Mia is shocked, but his mother quickly retorts that he has an overactive imagination.
After failing two math quizzes, she is forced to admit to her parents about her condition. Mia's father sets up an appointment to her pediatrician Dr. Randolph. Her mother takes Mia to Dr. Randolph, who recommends her to a psychotherapist.
After her appointment, Mia tells her best friend Jenna Davis about her colors. Jenna bursts into tears and gets angry at her for not telling her before. Jenna runs away and, out of anger, stops talking to Mia. At her psychotherapist appointment Mia is told that her colors are just her imagination, and she has "middle child syndrome" and made up the colors to get attention. Mia denies it. The psychotherapist suggests that Mia go to a neurologist to see what is wrong with her.
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