The Wild Book
From one of Mexico's foremost authors comes a wondrous adventure story of a boy who goes to live with his kooky, book-obsessed uncle in a library where books have supernatural powers.
"We walked toward the part of the library where the air smelled as if it had been interred for years..... Finally, we got to the hallway where the wooden floor was the creakiest, and we sensed a strange whiff of excitement and fear. It smelled like a creature from a bygone time. It smelled like a dragon." Thirteen-year-old Juan's summer is off to a terrible start. First, his parents separate. Then, almost as bad, Juan is sent away to his strange Uncle Tito's house for the entire break! Who wants to live with an oddball recluse who has zigzag eyebrows, drinks fifteen cups of smoky tea a day, and lives inside a huge, mysterious library? As Juan adjusts to his new life among teetering, dusty shelves, he notices something odd: the books move on their own! He rushes to tell Uncle Tito, who lets his nephew in on a secret: Juan is a Princeps Reader, which means books respond magically to him, and he's the only one who can find the elusive, never-before-read Wild Book. But will Juan and his new friend Catalina get to The Wild Book before the wicked, story-stealing Pirate Book does? An unforgettable adventure story about books, libraries, and the power of reading, The Wild Book is the young readers' debut by beloved, prize-winning Mexican author Juan Villoro. It has sold over one million copies in Spanish.Earn by promoting books
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Juan Villoro, arguably Mexico's most important living public intellectual, is the author of several novels, short story and essay collections, plays, chronicles, and children's books. He is also a weekly columnist for the Mexican newspaper Reforma and is called upon frequently to contribute to El País in Spain, and the Spanish edition of The New York Times. He has been a visiting professor at Yale, Princeton, and Stanford. His books in English are the short-story collection The Guilty, the novel The Reef, the middle grade novel The Wild Book, and God is Round, a volume of essays on soccer. He has written for the stage, winning several awards, among them the ACE Prize in Argentina. He is recipient of the José Donoso and Manuel Rojas Awards (Chile), the José Arguedas Award (Cuba), the Liber, Diario Madrid, Rey de España, Herralde, Ciudad de Barcelona and Vázquez Monlbán Awards (Spain), and the Villaurrutia, Mazatlán, Ibargüengoitia and López Velarde Awards (Mexico).
Lawrence Schimel (New York, 1971) is a full-time author, writing in both Spanish and English, who has published over one hundred twenty books in a wide range of genres. He is also a prolific literary translator. His own picture books have won a Crystal Kite Award from SCBWI and have been selected for the White Ravens from the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany and twice chosen for IBBY's Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities, among other awards and honors. His recent translations into Spanish include George Takei's graphic novel memoir Nos llamaron enemigo and Maggie Nelson's Bluets. Recent translations into English include Poems the wind blew in by Karmelo C. Iribarren, which won a Highly Commended Award in the 2020 CLiPPA, and picture book The Day Saida Arrived by Susana Gómez Redondo, illustrated by Sonja Wimmer, which is a finalist for the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. He was one of the original founders of WorldKidLitMonth and is a staunch advocate for translating works for young readers."For me, when it comes to good writing, texts are alive and living among us, no matter the genre. Juan Villoro's The Wild Book -- a story in which books themselves are characters -- is an especially good example.... In Uncle Tito's library, the books choose their readers. So Villoro's novel chose me.... Equal parts ecology and magical realism, Villoro explores the nature of literature and reading. The best stories are wild, after all.... Villoro entrusts young readers to care for and sustain the magic -- and in doing so, takes them seriously. But the novel is also generous with its adults ... Uncle Tito, changes and grows just like Juan, the teenage protagonist.... Villoro's novel illuminates why YA literature has such a large adult readership. Even as we age, or perhaps especially then, our purpose is not to tame our life stories -- but rather to allow them their wild lives."
--Kristin Van Tassel, Los Angeles Review of Books"This quirky tale - originally published in Mexico - is a delight, giving books a life of their own. Before long, you'll see your reading list in a whole new way.... The Wild Book has a classic, magical feel, but it's also grounded in reality, as we see Juan coming to terms with his parents' separation and his feelings for Catalina, the girl who works in the local pharmacy. And Tito is a wonderfully rich character, from his constant need to urinate to his obsession with creating literary recipes. A must-read for book-lovers everywhere."
--Booktrust, Five-Star Review"Books are portals to other worlds. In The Wild Book, a young boy learns about the power of stories when he explores his uncle's enchanted library of shape-shifting books. This is a beautifully written ode to the inherent magic of books and reading. ... Translated by award-winning Lawrence Schimel, Juan Villoro's prose is lovely and clear. Villoro, "Mexico's Updike," is his nation's most prolific, prize-winning writer. The Wild Book is no exception within his canon. Each of the twenty-one chapters is accompanied by Eko's stunning woodcut-style illustrations, depicting books with teeth and pages flying. Deserving a place beside classics like The Phantom Tollbooth and Half-Magic, The Wild Book is a timeless celebration of reading."
--Claire Foster, Foreword Reviews (Five-Heart Review)"A rewarding and bewitching story which goes to the heart of why books are so powerful and incredible. From exploring how the person reading a story changes the very fabric of the story being read, so that one book can mean quite different things to different people, to how stories help us navigate our lives, often providing opportunities to practise scenarios before we encounter them in real life, thereby giving us skills, confidence and resilience, The Wild Book is a paean to the potential of books. If you consider yourself a bibliophile, this, quite simply, is a must-read.
In some ways a Library of The Shadow of the Wind for younger readers, The Wild Book luxuriously riffs on how books can be mirrors and windows.... Delicate, fine and surprising turns of phrase pack this novel, originally published in Mexico, mixing moments of humour with splashes of original beauty. The smooth and seamless translation is a delight, as are the glimpses into another culture, with lots of references to exploring the Amazon, and some nods towards literature from South America.... Apart from the glorious celebration of stories, I also loved how The Wild Book movingly and sensitively navigates a teenage boy's changing relationship with some of the adults in his life, and in particular with his father and uncle. Coming of age novels explore how a protagonist grows up and their relationship to themselves changes, but Villoro's novel also touches on how Juan's feelings towards his father and uncle change, with a growing realisation that how you perceive the adults in your life as a young person may not be the be-all and end-all of what those adults are really like. The emotional sensitivity of Villoro's novel is nuanced and subtle. It's glorification of food, however, is a divine and triumphant indulgence.... I could have a lot of fun writing a cookery book companion to go with The Wild Book! Perfect for intrepid book explorers who relish getting lost inside the pages of a book, The Wild Book is a dazzling adventure you'll not want to miss." --Zoe Toft, Playing by the Book"Yonder makes good on its promise of diverse offerings with its first titles, beginning this October with the release of The Wild Book, written by Mexican author Juan Villoro and translated by Lawrence Schimel. The middle grade novel is about a boy who goes to stay with his eccentric, book-collecting uncle, who takes him on a quest to find the infamous wild book that has never allowed itself to be read; it is illustrated by Mexican artist Eko."
--Publishers Weekly
"It's so much fun. If you like books, if you like books about books, it's great for anyone at any age. . . . It's like Shadow of the Wind or Mr. Penumbra 'The Early Years'--it's really fun!"
--Liberty Hardy, Book Riot's All the Books Podcast"This book is awesome. It is very interesting; there are just so many books, and it strikes on so many topics. It is also a great adventure story, one that is even believable because the author's name is also Juan, so that is really funny. I like how the Wild Book acts - the books are characters in this story, too, and some of them become good friends with Juan and help him. This is a great story for anyone who loves books like I do!"
--Raifl, age 9, Kids' Book Buzz, Five-Star Review"A summer visit unlocks a wonderful library in Juan Villoro's magical tale.... Somewhere in [Juan's uncle Tito's] vast Borgesian stacks is a wild book that no one has ever managed to hold long enough to read. It becomes the quest of the summer to find this untamed volume, a pursuit made thrilling for Juan because he is joined in the hunt by a girl named Catalina, whom he adores. Translated from the Spanish by Lawrence Schimel, The Wild Book is as quirky and infused with the love of books as Tito himself."
--Meghan Cox Gurdon, The Wall Street Journal
"The Wild Book is such a brilliant book with an amazing ending.... And because the story is about books, it makes you think that as long as you keep reading, anything is possible."
--Isabel, age 11, World Kid Lit"With delightful notes of The Phantom Tollbooth, Villoro's tale is perfect for any bibliophile.... Schimel's smooth translation is reminiscent of tales like those of Kafka or Borges, and charming chapter-header artwork adds to the aura of wonder. Readers will learn, along with the characters here, that the best thing about books is that they are meant to be shared."
--Stephanie Cohen, Booklist, Starred Review
"Brings to mind the same ecstatic thrill I felt reading The Phantom Tollbooth as a child, Fahrenheit 451 as a teen, and Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore as an adult. I'm absolutely envious of the young readers who are about to discover the magic of Juan Villoro's The Wild Book."
--David Gonzalez, Skylight Books (Los Angeles, CA)"Rich on multiple levels, a cast of colorful characters, plots and twists galore, and plenty of humor, author Juan Villoro weaves his words with a style that will delight older kids, start to finish, making The Wild Book a wild ride, indeed."
--Kendal A. Rautzhan, The Port Huron Times Herald
