Hello, Universe

Hello, Universe (March 2017) is the third novel by Filipino-American author Erin Entrada Kelly. It is intended for children aged 8 to 12. In addition to being categorized as Children’s Fiction, the book falls into the subcategories of Self-Esteem, Bullying Issues, and Special Needs. The title won the 2018 Newbury Medal, and its author has garnered other awards for previous novels, including a Golden Kite Award and an Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature. Kelly’s other books include Blackbird Fly (2015), The Land of Forgotten Girls (2016), You Go First (2018), and Lalani of the Distant Sea (2019).

The novel takes place in a contemporary American town whose name and location are not specified. School has just ended for the year, so the month is presumably early June. The action takes place during the two-day period of Friday and Saturday, but the exact dates are not given. Although the novel deals with the serious issue of bullying behavior directed at special needs children, the tone is generally light and fanciful. The story unfolds from the point of view of four children. Limited third-person narration is used to tell the stories of Virgil, Kaori, and Chet, while Valencia speaks for herself as a first-person narrator. The author’s decision to allow Valencia to express her thoughts directly may stem from the desire to describe a deaf person’s perspective first-hand.

Hello, Universe tells the tale of a shy Filipino boy named Virgil who wants to meet a deaf girl named Valencia because he has a crush on her. Not knowing what to do, he consults twelve-year-old psychic Kaori to help with his dilemma. Neither child realizes that the universe has taken a hand in resolving the problem by setting up a string of seeming coincidences that will lead Virgil to his goal. During a frightening adventure that the four children share in the woods, the novel explores the themes of cosmic intervention, communication problems, and what it means to be a hero.

Plot Summary

Eleven-year-old Virgil is beset with a number of problems. He’s so painfully shy that his raucous family always refers to him by the nickname of Turtle. Virgil is also pestered by a bully named Chet who harasses him at school as well as in the neighborhood where they both live. Aside from these aggravations, Virgil secretly wants to meet a schoolmate named Valencia, but he’s too shy to talk to her. For her part, Valencia feels alienated from everyone around her because she is deaf and spends most of her time alone. Seeking help, Virgil consults a neighborhood psychic named Kaori. Kaori is a self-assured twelve-year-old who never doubts her supernatural powers. After talking to Virgil, she tells him to bring her five stones so that they can do a ritual the following day.

Virgil puts his pet guinea pig into his backpack on Saturday morning and goes to the woods to search for the perfect ritual stones. At the same time, Chet has entered the woods intending to capture a snake. When the two meet, Chet throws Virgil’s backpack down an abandoned well with the guinea pig still inside. Virgil tries to rescue his pet but ends up trapped on the bottom of the well too.

Despite this catastrophe, the universe orchestrates a series of seeming coincidences that solve both Virgil’s and Valencia’s problems. Valencia connects with Kaori and then with Virgil’s family until she eventually solves the mystery of the missing boy. In the process, Valencia ends her self-imposed isolation and makes new friends. During his time at the bottom of the well, Virgil thinks about his fearful behavior and resolves to make some changes if he’s ever rescued. By the end of the novel, Virgil discards his fear and asserts himself enough to force Chet to back off. He also insists that his family treat him with respect. Virgil’s final test comes when he works up the courage to text Valencia. She says, “I stare at the single word, and for some reason, I don’t know why . . . I get a weird feeling in my belly, like a hundred butterflies have taken flight. It says: hello” (312).

NOTE: All page number citations are taken from the Kindle edition of this book.