Basil thinks he’s alone in his ability to see numbers as colors until he meets Tenzie. She has an entire mental grid of number and color combinations. Their disclosure and Tenzie’s explanation that she knows others who have this mental quirk lead Basil to do research and find its name: synesthesia. Basil and Tenzie proceed to become friends after Basil’s initial reluctance, and they conquer some bullies, reunite (briefly and unhappily) with Basil’s absent mother, and confront (briefly and unhappily) Tenzie’s detached parents. Basil’s grandma begins and ends as the book’s hero with her funky artsy earthmother patience and wisdom. Synesthesia is a fascinating topic, but this book makes it sound hokey. The book’s cover is possibly its best asset and it, too, is a bit cheesy (two teens sitting on a park bench with colored drops and numbers raining onto them). The plot is predictable and the writing has no style or subtlety. For example, the neighborhood Tenzie lives in is the stereotypical clean & tidy cookie-cutter subdivision while Basil and his grandma’s house is eclectic and just across the way from this modern eyesore. The neighborhood’s description includes, of course, beige indiscriminate houses, which would have been enough. But the author names the neighborhood Elegant Acres. AND Basil has to pass by Stylish Street, Handsome Way, and Fashionable Road to get to Tenzie’s -- 11 Tasteful Lane. I wish I was kidding. The only reason I would recommend this book would be for teachers to use it to distinguish good writing from bad writing. Read a chapter of Wendy Mass’s A Mango Shaped Space and read a chapter from One + One = Blue, and students will begin to understand how a similar story can be told in an artful and artless way. This is a story about a student, Basil, who sees colors for different numbers and thinks everyone does. They think him odd when he talks about the colors. Eventually he meets another student with freakish number color connections and bonds. I found this book fascinating, especially after finding out this is a true phenomenon some people experience. There are many different variations of this phenomenon and I had to go look it up and take a survey. Enjoyed this book.
Do You like book One Plus One Equals Blue (2013)?
A very good story, realistic things that can really happen amkes it all more interesting.
—tani4kakoleva
This sounds so much like A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass!!!! I'm so reading it!
—lai
I have synesthesia, so I would love to read this book sometime soon!
—LAYLALEMMONS93
