SuitabookHello, Universe
Erin Entrada Kelly
- Reading
- If alternating narrators are confusing, pause to identify who is speaking, what they know and where they are. Consider reading together through the more intense peril, then discuss the language and its effects.
- Themes
- Connection across difference: Four children who feel isolated become connected during an unexpected crisis. The story presents friendship, teamwork and asking for help as ways through isolation.
- Bullying and vulnerability: Chet verbally harasses vulnerable children and plays a harmful prank on Virgil. The bullying is clearly harmful, while the bully is given fears and pressures that complicate rather than excuse his behaviour.
- Fate, belief and choice: Kaori believes she is psychic, and fate is repeatedly discussed alongside Filipino folktales and other cultural material. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Worth knowing
- Pay attention to the sustained bullying, including ableist slurs and other insults, and to peril involving a well, a snake and frightening imagined harm. These episodes may merit preparation or shared reading.