Wonder at the Edge of the World

Gr 5–8—Amid the open warfare of slavery-divided Kansas in the 1850s lives Hallelujah (Lu) Wonder and her broken family. Lu's father was a naval explorer who acquired natural specimens from many voyages. When he refused to surrender his finds to Captain Greeney and the US Navy, his family fled from New Bedford, MA, to Tolerone, KS. Before Greeney hanged him, Lu's father bequeathed her a sacred duty—to keep one specimen, a mystical, medicine head, safe and hidden. Lu travels on Captain Abbot's whaling ship to remote Antarctica to deposit the head. Her friend Eustace, a Kansas slave, accompanies her on her quest. Helget's novel teems with historical information, most of which centers on abolition and the whaling industry. Wonder would work well as an extension to world history and natural sciences' units. As in Jacqueline Kelly's The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Holt, 2009), Lu's main focus is scientific exploration, and her informative musings will have readers wanting to do scientific research of their own. Even with so much background to incorporate, Helget's novel includes enough exciting escapes from Greeney and agitated whales to keep the pages turning. However, Lu is a difficult character to unravel. She spends the first third of the book telling Eustace to shut up, and her change of heart comes abruptly. Through Lu's character, Helget treads a fine line by portraying accurate historical depictions of attitudes toward slavery and cultural insensitivity. Though the self-centered protagonist may initially turn some readers away, those who persist will find an informative and richly detailed historical adventure.—Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT