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Beverly
Mar 18, 2012 rated it it was ok
FTC Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book from the Amazon Vine Program in exchange for an honest review.

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

Summary: Fefa struggles with words. She has word blindness, or dyslexia, and the doctor says she will never read or write. Every time she tries, the letters jumble and spill off the page, leaping and hopping away like bullfrogs. How will she ever understand them? But her mother has an idea. She gives Fefa a blank book filled with clean wh
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Samantha
Jun 28, 2012 rated it really liked it
A story told in verse about a young girl who struggles with dyslexia. The author used her grandmother's stories about her childhood growing up on a farm in the early 1900s during the time following Cuba's wars for independence from Spain.

What most impressed me about this book was the feel for time and place the author gave me as she created the setting for this tale. The honesty with which she deals with the young girl's struggle with reading is great. I think it is relatable and explained so w
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Donalyn
Fefa cannot read because she suffers from "word-blindness" or dyslexia. Her mother gives her a blank book to write her own words. Scrawling her wild words into the book gives Fefa growing confidence and provides her insight that saves her family at a crucial moment.


Based on Engle's grandmother's childhood experiences growing up during the chaos after Cuba's fight for independence from Spain.

This novel in verse contains so many wonderful images. One of my favorites:

Storytelling

No one in my family
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Barbara
As she so often does in her books, Engle draws on her Cuban heritage, telling the story of her own grandmother's struggle with literacy. When she is ten, Fefa's doctor diagnoses her with word-blindness (as dyslexia was called in the early days of the twentieth century). Unable to understand the words she sees on the pages of books, Fefa is understandably embarrassed and frustrated. But her mother gives her a blank book and tells her to use it to write down whatever she can. At first, Fefa can ma ...more
Mary
The verse is good, but I didn't feel a connection to it. I didn't feel like I was there and I didn't feel like I was going through what the main character was going through. I keep comparing verse novels to Inside Out and Back Again , in which I felt like I was right there with the main character. ...more
Laura5
Aug 28, 2011 marked it as to-read
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Oct 31, 2012 marked it as to-read
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Karen
Dec 31, 2012 rated it liked it
Shelves: jfic
Marcie Flinchum
Jan 01, 2013 marked it as to-read
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Jan 19, 2013 marked it as to-read
Jean
Feb 11, 2013 rated it really liked it
Wendy
May 02, 2013 rated it liked it
Teresa Garrett
Jun 23, 2013 marked it as to-read
Beth Knight
Jun 27, 2014 marked it as to-read
Shelves: own-it
Lisagarden
Jan 12, 2015 marked it as to-read
Maggi Rohde
Feb 02, 2015 marked it as to-read
Shelves: novels-in-verse
Kathy
Jun 14, 2015 marked it as to-read
Meagan
Aug 13, 2019 marked it as to-read
Jill Williamson
Jul 07, 2020 marked it as to-read
Shelves: poetry
Kim
Oct 20, 2023 marked it as to-read
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