The Wonderling
by Mira Bartok
Have you been unexpectedly burdened by a recently orphaned or unclaimed creature? Worry not! We have just the solution for you!
Welcome to the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, an institution run by evil Miss Carbunkle, a cunning villainess who believes her terrified young charges exist only to serve and suffer. Part animal and part human, the groundlings toil in classroom and factory, forbidden to enjoy anything regular children have, most particularly singing and music. For the Wonderling, an innocent-hearted, one-eared, fox-like eleven-year-old with only a number rather than a proper name — a 13 etched on a medallion around his neck — it is the only home he has ever known. But unexpected courage leads him to acquire the loyalty of a young bird groundling named Trinket, who gives the Home’s loneliest inhabitant two incredible gifts: a real name — Arthur, like the good king in the old stories — and a best friend. Using Trinket’s ingenious invention, the pair escape over the wall and embark on an adventure that will take them out into the wider world and ultimately down the path of sweet Arthur’s true destiny. Richly imagined, with shimmering language, steampunk motifs, and gripping, magical plot twists, this high adventure fantasy is the debut novel of award-winning memoirist Mira Bartók and has already been put into development for a major motion picture.
Original Title
Q&A with Mira Bartok, author of The Wonderling
The Wonderling
by Mira Bartok
Have you been unexpectedly burdened by a recently orphaned or unclaimed creature? Worry not! We have just the solution for you!
Welcome to the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, an institution run by evil Miss Carbunkle, a cunning villainess who believes her terrified young charges exist only to serve and suffer. Part animal and part human, the groundlings toil in classroom and factory, forbidden to enjoy anything regular children have, most particularly singing and music. For the Wonderling, an innocent-hearted, one-eared, fox-like eleven-year-old with only a number rather than a proper name — a 13 etched on a medallion around his neck — it is the only home he has ever known. But unexpected courage leads him to acquire the loyalty of a young bird groundling named Trinket, who gives the Home’s loneliest inhabitant two incredible gifts: a real name — Arthur, like the good king in the old stories — and a best friend. Using Trinket’s ingenious invention, the pair escape over the wall and embark on an adventure that will take them out into the wider world and ultimately down the path of sweet Arthur’s true destiny. Richly imagined, with shimmering language, steampunk motifs, and gripping, magical plot twists, this high adventure fantasy is the debut novel of award-winning memoirist Mira Bartók and has already been put into development for a major motion picture.
The Wonderling
by Mira Bartok
Have you been unexpectedly burdened by a recently orphaned or unclaimed creature? Worry not! We have just the solution for you!
Welcome to the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, an institution run by evil Miss Carbunkle, a cunning villainess who believes her terrified young charges exist only to serve and suffer. Part animal and part human, the groundlings toil in classroom and factory, forbidden to enjoy anything regular children have, most particularly singing and music. For the Wonderling, an innocent-hearted, one-eared, fox-like eleven-year-old with only a number rather than a proper name — a 13 etched on a medallion around his neck — it is the only home he has ever known. But unexpected courage leads him to acquire the loyalty of a young bird groundling named Trinket, who gives the Home’s loneliest inhabitant two incredible gifts: a real name — Arthur, like the good king in the old stories — and a best friend. Using Trinket’s ingenious invention, the pair escape over the wall and embark on an adventure that will take them out into the wider world and ultimately down the path of sweet Arthur’s true destiny. Richly imagined, with shimmering language, steampunk motifs, and gripping, magical plot twists, this high adventure fantasy is the debut novel of award-winning memoirist Mira Bartók and has already been put into development for a major motion picture.
Proto Doug ve,
Where did the idea for the story of The Wonderling begin?
Like most projects I do, The Wonderling came out of a confluence
of ideas, experiences, dreams, and memories. But first and
foremost, the character came from a sketch I made back in 2014
of a one-eared rabbit, Eventually he morphed into a fox because
he looked too much like Matt Groening’s rabbit in his Life in Hell
comic strip. But I was thinking of a one-eared character even
before that, a creature who, despite his deficit, has an incredible
ability to hear things from far away. In 2014 I was also rereading
Dickens and was reading different versions of the Arthurian
legends. The other thing that came into play here was I had just finished writing a very long,
and not very interesting, nonfiction adult book on the history of wonder. After I stuck that
book in a drawer, I decided that I didn’t want to write about wonder, but rather explore a
character born in extreme deprivation who experiences wonder on a rather profound level
The Wonderling scems heavily influenced by steampunk and fantasy. What was it like
combining those elements in this kind of mash-up for young readers?
Talways wanted the book to look and sound very Victorian with a touch of steampunk to it
But steampunk lite. I didn't want a ton of dirigibles and all the other typical steampunk
inventions, but inventions that felt more personal, like the Songcatcher. The same goes for
fantasy. I wanted this book to feel as realistic as a Dickens novel would, only there happen to
be characters who are part animal, part human, and there’s a touch of magic here and there.
In book two, the magic will play a greater, more mythic role, But in the first book, I tried to
introduce the magic slowly. The most important thing to me, no matter what the genre is, is
that the book has a lot of heart.
As an accomplished artist and musician, can you discuss the importance of the arts and the
influence of music on your own writing, even as they are under imminent threat in our culture
right now, as in your book?
The arts have always been my lifeblood. I don’t think I would have survived my difficult
childhood without the arts. I grew up in a time when, despite the fact that Iived in a working-
class neighborhood, we were fortunate to have great art, music, and theater programs in ouree x
schools. And my mother, despite her struggle with mental illness (schizophrenia), was a
musical prodigy and taught me how to play piano at a very young age
Music and art were my first loves, not writing. So of course they are going to inform what
I do. I'm a very visual thinker, and most of my ideas spring from images. And when I write,
the musicality of language generally comes before clarity. Sentences need to sing, or I get
bored with them.
What do you think about having the opportunity, so early in the life of this book, to be
developing the story for a feature film as well?
Tam still baffled by what happened early on with this book. It still seems unreal! I'm very
excited about the prospect of its being turned into a film, although I do realize, as one of the
producers from Working Title Films said to me, “Making a film is like building a city on
sand.” It often takes a long time, and everything shifts constantly beneath your feet.
actually have imagined this book from the beginning as a movie. Not that I ever thought
it would happen, but I saw it unfold like a film as I was writing it. But the book has always
come first. My dream would be that it becomes a book that children, or adults, keep next to
their beds at night. And I'm not the screenwriter, although I will definitely be consulted. I'm
meeting the screenwriter next month in L.A. to talk about the book, so that should be exciting!
One of the central themes of The Wonderling is that no matter one’s size, stature, or humble
beginnings, they can make positive change in the world. How do you think this story will
resonate with readers today who may feel powerless, threatened, or oppressed?
Lalways go back to that quote from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring film: “Even
the smallest person can change the course of the future.” I thought about the line a lot when
I wrote this story. I don't know how my book will resonate with those who feel powerless, but
I would hope that, at the very least, they won't feel so alone. And that they will be able to find
solace and courage within the pages.
What do you hope readers (of all ages) will take away from The Wonderling?
Td be content if they took away a little wonder, a dash of hope, and a bit of empathy. I think
we need those three things more than anything right now.Mira Bartok is the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir
The Memory Palace, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award
for Autobiography. The Memory Palace was also a Barnes & Noble
Discover Great New Writers selection and was voted a best book of
2011 by the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. Mira Bart6k has
written and illustrated numerous nonfiction titles for children and has
also edited and translated several picture books in Italian, Norwegian,
and S4mi (Lapp)
Mira Bartok received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago and has an MFA in painting from the University of Illinois as
well as an MFA in fiction and creative nonfiction from the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to her writing career, Mira was a gallery
artist and also worked as a cultural specialist, public programmer, and
assistant director of family programs at several major institutions,
including the Field Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of
Chicago, Chicago's Lincoln Park Children’s Zoo, and Harvard
University’s Peabody Museum, among others. She is also the former
director of education at the Chicago Children’s Museum.
Her writing for adults has been noted in ‘The Best American Essays
series and has appeared in More magazine, Psychology Today, and several
literary magazines and anthologies, She is a frequent commentator for
New England Public Radio.
The Wonderling is her first novel for young readers. Mira Bartok lives in
Western Massachusetts.Was if he still had family out there, out in the wide world
of cities and mountains and faraway towns and fields? What
if there was something amazing beyond the impassible Wall
and gate —a road that led to where he came from? To who he
really was and where he was going —the road to his destiny?
Did he even have a destiny?
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