Weslandia

I want some swist mosquito repellent

"What did you do on your summer vacation?"

If you're above a particular age, you had to suffer through this ubiquitous essay question the moment you returned to school. Every year, it was unmitigated hell. How on earth was I supposed to make a week with Grandma in suburban Indiana sound appealing when I didn't even enjoy it myself? Does the teacher really want to know that my little brother threw up on the spinning teacups at Dizzyland? What about the summer Mom and Dad were out of work, so we didn't have any money to go anywhere?

The biggest secret is, teachers hate this assignment nearly as much as their students do. The sheaf of uninspired papers, bland and uniform, must seem like the very pit of despair—the first assignment of another school year staring dispassionately back at them from the "to be graded" stack.

But wait, what's this? A scroll of handmade paper—a long, complex essay in an unknown alphabet—and the child who handed it in is, to say the least, unconventionally dressed.

What did Wesley do on his summer vacation? He did what any self-respecting nerd would do, and created a civilization in his own backyard.

Weslandia, a picture book written by Newberry Award winner Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, is an unabashed valentine to all the young, creative nerds out there. Our hero, Wesley, is a clear misfit who dislikes pizza and soda, who reads for pleasure and refuses to follow trends, and who makes a handy target for all the bullies in his homogenized suburban neighborhood. But during the summer, he decides to create a civilization based around a new food crop—a quasi-magical plant, with huge bell-shaped flowers and numerous practical uses, which sprouts up in his garden overnight.

The plant, eventually designated a swist, provides everything for Wesley's new culture—food, clothing, shelter, and all the grace notes of life. Taking inspiration from the swist's eight-petaled flower, Wesley designs an eight-part day and a base-eight counting system. His own phonetic alphabet (reproduced in part on the endpapers, with a secret message) contains 80 characters, and he writes with ink he made himself. He makes his own clothing from plant fibers, and sells his former tormentors an insect repellent made from swist-seed oil. The complex games he creates, using parts of the plant, draw the attention of the neighborhood kids—and it isn't long before Weslandia has its share of day-tripping young tourists.

Fleischman describes all these goings-on in a simple, tongue-in-cheek deadpan that's a delight to read—but the real winner here is illustrator Kevin Hawkes, who brings the unlikely story to life in warm, vivid tones. The unique, tropical-bright color of the swist patch and the Weslandian mini-world show off beautifully against the bland, pastel suburban landscape surrounding it. Wesley's slow outer metamorphosis is as much fun to watch as it is to read about.

There are a number of concepts to be derived from Weslandia, some more obvious than others. One is that you don't need to operate under ideal conditions to achieve your dreams. Wesley's little island of exotica exists within the boundaries of his own garden. Creativity isn't a hothouse flower; given even the slimmest of chances, it can bloom anywhere.

If you define yourself as a nerd of any stripe, you really ought to find your own copy of Weslandia. It's a funny, potent allegory, and the message isn't just for children—although, sadly, the kids who might benefit most from this little book are also the ones who are least likely to read it. So if there are any kids in your sphere of influence who have spent the summer glued to the PS2, pick up a copy for them.

You never know—it might just revolutionize their summer vacation.

Suggested age range: 6-9

EXTRA CREDIT SECTION
So what does the hidden message on the endpapers say? Hey, I'm a geek... so I translated it. It's a message from the illustrator to the author (interestingly enough, the two never met in person while working on the book).

Dear Paul,
I am so flattered to have had the chance to illustrate such a remarkable text. In an electronic world where watching computer screens is the pinnacle of adventure, Weslandia is an oasis in the desert—the desert of Suburbia.
Long live Robinson Crusoe,
Kevin Hawkes

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