40 Fun Facts About A Mango-Shaped Space

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Mia's younger brother Zack record on a detailed chart on his wall?

Hamburgers he has eaten at McDonald's, every one in his lifetime, are tallied on Zack's chart. Wendy Mass has said she always wished she had kept such a chart herself.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what really inspired the name Mia gave the stray kitten she begged to keep?

The color of his wheeze, an orange-yellow that Mia sees with every breath he takes, gave Mango his name. If anyone asks, though, she says it comes from the color of his eyes.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, on the day of which family event did Mia first see the kitten Mango?

Her grandfather's funeral is where the kitten turned up, sitting close to the grave. Mia believes a piece of Grandpa's soul lives on in Mango, who she insists has his eyes.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, why is Roger the only student who never asks what shade Mia sees in his name?

He is colorblind, so the answer would mean nothing to him. Mia, who sees more shades than anyone at school, laughs that the two of them make quite a pair.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what name fits the kitten whose yellowish sounds Mia sees at the end of the story?

Mustard is the shade Mia sees when the newborn kitten makes a sound, and he looks so much like Mango that the family takes him for Mango's son. Mia hesitates to take him home, then dreams of mustard.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, where does Mia notice the empty spot that gives the novel its title?

On her bed, lit by a flash of lightning, there is only a Mango-shaped space where the cat should be. Mango dies soon afterward, and the phrase comes to stand for the hole he leaves in Mia's life.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Mia's handyman father fly from the family's Illinois farmland?

A helicopter sits on the Winchells' farmland, and Mia helps her father clean it. When Mango falls gravely ill during a storm, the family rushes him aboard to reach a vet.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Mia's sixteen-year-old sister Beth change about her looks almost every week?

Her hair color changes so often that Mia jokes about how routine it has become. Beth is just as restless about her beliefs, and comes home from a week at camp in California as a vegetarian.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, how does best friend Jenna react when Mia finally reveals her lifelong secret?

She feels betrayed that Mia hid something so big for years, and she starts crying and storms off. Still angry, Jenna lets the secret slip to a friend, and soon the whole school knows.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what do Mia and Jenna call themselves when they plan their secret missions?

Partners in crime, or PIC for short, is the label the two best friends give themselves. Wendy Mass has said the idea came from her own life.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which school trouble finally forces Mia to tell her parents about her colors?

Failed math quizzes, two in the first two weeks of eighth grade, bring home a teacher's note that her parents must sign. Mia decides to explain the colors rather than hide the failing grade.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which eighth-grade language class baffles Mia because translated words change color?

Spanish trips her up because a word and its English twin are never the same color, so new vocabulary refuses to stick. Until eighth grade, only numbers had given her that kind of trouble.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Mia try at home after reading another synesthete's tip for brighter colors?

A long steamy bath turns the colors so vivid that Mia vows to bathe that way from now on. The thrill prompts her to phone Roger about trying acupuncture next.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, where does Mia first get to know Adam, a boy who also sees sounds in color?

On a website for people with synesthesia, suggested by her neurologist, Mia posts a short profile and Adam soon emails her. He has a twist of his own, since flavors have colors for him too.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what replaces the Thanksgiving turkey after Zack and Beth protest?

Tofu wins after the two siblings wear their mother down, and their father spends the meal reminding everyone what is missing. By afternoon, Beth has talked him into a better mood.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Adam say in an email that turns Mia against him?

Her cat was just an animal, Adam writes, when Mia misses a meeting of synesthetes to mourn Mango. Roger, who has lost a pet of his own, proves far kinder.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Mia's brother Zack believe in and push the whole family to obey?

Superstitions rule Zack's life, so nobody walks under a ladder while he is around. His quirks are a running reminder that Mia is hardly the only unusual Winchell.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which objects does Mia collect and keep silent to avoid a flood of colors?

Clocks fill her bedroom, and when Zack resets them all to the same time, every alarm rings at once. The noise swamps Mia in colors and leaves her too rattled to paint.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Mia's sister Beth come down with after picking herbs in the woods?

Poison ivy sends Beth to the doctor on the same day as Mia, who takes every chance to tease her about it. Until then, Beth had never been one for the woods.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which composer, her late grandpa's favorite, does Mia play before painting?

Mozart was Grandpa's favorite, and his music gives Mia small, gentle colors she can work beside. She is finishing a portrait of Grandpa for the anniversary of his death.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which lifelong health problem does Mia's cat Mango have, kept in check with pills?

A tear in his lung troubles Mango from kittenhood, and the vet later says the family was lucky he lived as long as he did. Mia still blames herself for one forgotten pill.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which neurologist, who asks to be called Jerry, finally gives Mia's colors a name?

Dr. Weiss explains that Mia has synesthesia, a crossing of the senses, and that plenty of other people share it. Wendy Mass consulted real synesthetes and researchers so that his science would hold up.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, where does the neurologist who diagnoses Mia work, a few hours from her Illinois home?

University of Chicago is where Mia is diagnosed and where she later joins a weekend gathering of synesthetes. Until then she had spent five years hiding what she saw.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which feared diagnosis does a neurologist rule out by phone before even meeting Mia?

A brain tumor is the fear her parents can finally drop when the specialist calls to say he recognizes what she describes. He is away in Europe, so Mia waits a week to hear more.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what is striking about the office of Ms. Finn, the psychotherapist Mia is sent to?

Everything is white, right down to the carpet, and the silent waiting room makes Mia wonder if she is being filmed. Ms. Finn asks whether the colors are a bid for attention before sending her on.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which class, taught by germ-fearing Mrs. Morris, do Mia's colors make easier?

History suits Mia because every date and famous name has its own color, which makes them easy to recall. In math class, the same colors only get in her way.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which pet does Mia see Roger's family bring to the vet for the last time?

A golden retriever, old and ailing, is put to sleep while Mia hugs Mango in the waiting room and hears Roger cry. Months later, that memory makes Roger the classmate who best understands her grief.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, where does Mia first meet Billy Henkle, the little boy who sees her name in color?

At the grocery store, Billy announces the colors of Mia's name, and his mother scolds him for making up stories. It is the first hint Mia has ever had that someone else sees the way she does.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Zack blame himself for after Mango dies during a bitter cold spell?

Letting him outside by accident haunts Zack, while Mia is sure her own distraction killed the cat. Their father says neither is to blame, because Mango had already stopped eating days before.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, where does Mia paint Mango when she adds him to her portrait of Grandpa?

On his shoulder there is little room, so she paints Mango as the kitten he once was. She gives the two the same eyes, then leaves the portrait at the cemetery, where rain smudges it.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Jenna give Mia after snipping off the grimy rope band both girls wore?

A gold bracelet replaces the frayed one, from a pair Jenna's late mother left as a birthday gift, guessing the girls would need new ones by then. The gift mends their strained friendship.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which of Mia's relatives does her mom recall dancing to music and praising its colors?

Her late grandmother danced to music and raved about its colors while little Mia joined in. Mia's mother only grasps what she saw once the neurologist says the condition often runs in families.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, where does Mia hide a color-coded formula to cheat her way to an A?

On her shoes, Mia draws a rainbow that spells out the formula, a code nobody else in the room can read. She does it because she dreads being sent to summer school.

Which American Library Association prize for portraying disability did A Mango-Shaped Space win in 2004?

Schneider Family Book Award winners were first named that year, and Wendy Mass's novel took the middle-grade prize. Its founder, Katherine Schneider, was the first blind student to graduate from the Kalamazoo public schools.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which friend spreads Mia's secret around school after Jenna lets it slip?

Kimberly spreads the news until the whole school has heard, and by English class Mia is fielding questions about mind reading. To her surprise, she starts to enjoy the attention.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, how is third-grade Mia punished for writing a multiplication problem in colored chalk?

A week of eraser duty, plus a trip to the principal's office, is what she gets for insisting that numbers need their proper colors. Her classmates' laughter convinces her to stay silent for five years.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, what does Adam say Mia sees glowing around people after acupuncture?

Pheromones, the chemical signals people give off, are Adam's explanation for the glow. Mia had only met the word in science class, and she wonders what it means that Roger lit up near her.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which complaint does Mia invent so an acupuncturist will agree to treat her?

An earache is her cover story, an idea that came from Adam, though Mia doubts the woman believes it. The needles go into her feet, hips and ears all the same.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which food does Adam say always shows him a pink rectangle with a green stripe?

Chocolate, his favorite, brings Adam the same pink rectangle every time, because flavors as well as sounds have colors for him. Mia had first asked him whether broccoli is always blue.

In A Mango-Shaped Space, which people do Mia, Roger and their group pick as the subject of a class project?

The Ibos are Roger's suggestion, because he remembers a model ship Mia built for a project on them back in fifth grade. Mia is startled that he noticed, and she paints a picture for the presentation.