The Wonder of Wildflowers

Ten-year-old Mira must balance the loyalty she feels towards her family with the desire to be accepted by her new classmates.
I’m not like most of my classmates. At least not yet.
My family came to this country when I was five years old, but we’re so close to becoming citizens now. This means we’ll finally be able to use Amber like everyone else. Then I will be as special as the rest of my classmates, the ones who were born here with magic already in their veins.
But most of all, no one will compare me to Daniel anymore. Daniel who doesn’t even try to fit in, who actually seems proud of being an outsider.
Once I take my first sip of Amber, I will be on the inside.
I hope.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

When I saw that this was a mid-grade book that tackled immigration, it immediately went on my must-read list.

I live in a county/state that tends to be full of both racism and immigrants, which are two things that just don’t mix very well, as one might expect. So I’m always on the lookout for books that might appeal more to the marginalized communities and allow their voices to be heard.

The Wonder of Wildflowers is a beautiful, poignant, at times tragic story about a young girl who wants so desperately to fit in, in a country that seems like it will forever see her as “other”.

My heart broke over and over for Mira, and I swung so hard from wanting to cry to wanting to throw some people in a lake and hand them an encyclopedia set. Wait, I guess that’s not very fair, is it? The encyclopedias didn’t do anything. We’ll hand them a cinder block instead.

❧ There were so many moments in this book that were an emotional punch to the gut and sort of took my breath away.

Especially knowing that these are things real people experience on a fairly regular basis in this country. It was just so hard to read at times and elicited a very strong emotional response, whether it was sadness or anger or righteous indignation.

Mostly, Mira just wants to be like everyone else. In this world, that means taking amber, which only citizens are allowed to do, and she’s convinced that it’ll make her better—a little more perfect, a little more like everyone else. It’s what she’s wanted all along, because she’s convinced it’ll solve all her problems. Of course, you and I know better, don’t we? Because life’s problems are never that easy.

Mira, like so many of us, is caught in this endless struggle of wanting to fit in, but always standing out, and trying to decide which one means the most to her.

The part that hit me the hardest? Her conclusion that even her best would never be good enough and that she had to work twice as hard as the rest of the class to earn the same grade because of the amber. Just ooof. This is something I’ve heard from so many minorities, and it just hit really hard hearing it from this little girl who’s just trying her hardest to become her best self.

❧ It was really easy to feel for and root for these characters, because they felt super realistic.

Right down to the things they face, which are struggles that immigrants often face in this country. The microaggressions were the worst. I mean, okay, being told to “go back home” and having their houses egged is pretty bad, but at least most people can at least recognize and agree that that’s the case. That recognition doesn’t generally exist with microaggressions, and this book does a good job of highlighting them and exactly how Mira feels in those instances. Things like a repeated mispronunciation of her name (because it’s so difficult and exotic), comments about her father not speaking the language, etc.

All the characters had very compelling struggles, though, not just Mira, including her parents and her classmates. Yes, even the ones who were already on amber.

Because, surprise, amber isn’t a magical cure-all. I bet you’re shocked, huh? I particularly related to Mira’s father, who resented losing everything, including his ability to practice medicine, and being treated like nothing in this new country. He fought so hard to try to instill traditional values in Mira, values that went against Amberland’s culture, that the man deserves a dang reward. And a hug. And maybe a cookie or two.

❧ The narrative has the opportunity to raise so many important discussion points.

It’s the sort of book that would make a wonderful group read, because it’s so full of stuff and emotions that it needs some decompressing and working through. There’s a lot packed into not many pages, and things that would open up a wonderful discussion with middle grade readers, such as:

✿ The concept of other
✿ Immigration, legal and otherwise
✿ Prejudices and stereotypes
✿ Microaggressions
✿ Citizenship vs. naturalization
✿ The freaking Golden Rule, people
✿ Classism
✿ “Model” immigrants

There are others, I’m sure of it, but those are the ones that jumped out off the top of my head. Like I said, this book is just full of so many good lessons that one may not necessarily think of, especially pertaining to immigrants. It’s a great jumping-off point to introduce young readers to concepts they may not have thought much about in an easy-to-comprehend fashion.

❧ This is a quick and easy read, one that was compelling and hard to put down.

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You know what’s going to happen, but you can’t do anything to actually stop it. All you can do is sit back and let things play out. For children in the target age range, the plot may be less obvious, but as an adult? Oh yeah, you can see where things are going, even if you hope that they’re not.

The book is very character driven, so don’t go in expecting a whirlwind plot or anything. Still, the struggles the characters faced were so relatable and compelling that I had absolutely no problem getting caught up in their lives.

I wanted things to work out and everyone to live happily ever after, dang it. After everything the characters had been through, they at least deserved that. It wasn’t just Mira, though. I related to her parents, to her classmates (even the ones I really didn’t like). I sat down and read this in one sitting, just so I’d know how it ended.

❧ The allegory was a little on the nose and in your face, relying on the reader’s knowledge of the real world rather than constructing a well-thought-out fantasy one.

Amberland is obviously America. But I couldn’t really tell you more about the world other than that. What exactly is amber, or what does it actually do? Why is it not available in other countries, considering it was found in the ground and extracted, much like oil? Where exactly is Mira from, and how is her country of origin similar and dissimilar from Amberland? None of these are ever answered.

I loved the idea of the amber and the magic, but without fleshing out the world more, the allegory seems almost pointless, like this could have easily been set in the real world and it would’ve lost nothing.

Okay, that’s not entirely true, since there were some things that definitely relied on the amber and magic plotline. But I felt like the world was a little too close to reality without distinguishing itself enough for the fantasy elements to really shine.

If you had the option, would you take “amber,” knowing it would make you physically stronger and more fit but that you would become reliant on it?