Spring Assessment

  “‘The colors of the numbers,  you know, like the two is pink...’”

Author’s Note: Have you ever wished that you could be normal like everyone else? Well, then you might connect to my essay. You will learn that sometimes being different can be a good thing and that you should always be true to yourself.

 “‘The colors. The colors of the numbers,  you know, like the two is pink, well of course it’s not really this shade of pink, more like cotton-candy pink, and the four is this baby-blanket blue color, and I … I just figured it would be easier to do the math problem with the numbers in the correct colors. Right?’” (2) In the book A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass, Mia Winchell, the main character, expresses how she feels by her actions, thoughts, and emotions.

At eight years old, it would probably be hard to explain to your teacher and classmates that numbers have colors. Ever since this incident, Mia has never told anyone about her colors, because she knows that they will never believe her. Mia acts just like any other kid at her school. She is smart and talented, but math is her hardest subject. I think she has trouble with math because of her colors. It said in the book that she had trouble associating the numbers close together, like the number twelve. To Mia, the numbers one and two have different colors. This whole trouble with math makes her act even shyer that she really is. Mia doesn’t want people to know her as the girl who can’t do the math problem. I know how she feels, because I’m not very good at math either. Most of the time I just hope that the teacher wont choose me to answer the question on the board, just like Mia. You know the saying ‘Think before you act’? Well, that is exactly what Mia does. 

You might now think that Wendy Mass just made Mia’s colors up. Well, she didn’t. Mia had a condition called Synesthesia. Synesthesia is when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color, according to www.dictionary.com. Some people might just think about how cool it is to have all of your numbers and letters have their own color and also see sounds, but Mia didn’t. All Mia wanted to do was to get rid of her colors and just be normal, but what Mia didn’t know was that she was special. Only one out of 2,000 people get Synesthesia, according to www.youramazingbrain.org. The more I read this book, the more I wished I could see her colors for a day and I also wanted to find out about her colors. I found out on www.youramazingbrain.org, that when some people hear a musical note they see a particular color; C is red, F sharp is blue. Or perhaps the number 2 is always green and 5 always blue. Other people may taste spoken words, for example, on hearing the word 'table' they might taste apricots, the word ‘book’ tastes like tomato soup and ‘telephone’ tastes like earwax! Since Mia has been keeping her colors for a secret for so long, her emotions towards other people have changed over the years.

Jenna Davis, Mia’s best friend, hates keeping secrets. In the book, it said that Mia and Jenna promised each other that they would never keep secrets from one another. After Mia started keeping her colors a secret, it got a little harder to talk to her best friend. This had happened to me before when my other friends and I started planning a secret party for my best friend. I know how hard it is now to smile and blurt out all of the plans. Well Mia couldn’t smile about her colors. She hated them. When Mia finally found out the name for her ‘disease’, she wanted to tell Jenna but she didn’t know how. Everyone has probably felt this feeling before, like keeping a secret from their parents. You could have gotten a bad grade on their report card, but when you finally want to tell them you don’t know what to say. That is exactly how Mia felt. You probably can guess what Jenna did after Mia finally had the nerve to tell her. Jenna got really mad. After that she didn’t really talk to Mia. Mia probably felt sad and alone. One of my friends got mad at me, and I didn’t know why. I felt just like Mia, sad and a little alone. If I were Mia, I would never want to keep a secret again!

Mia’s actions, thoughts, and emotions show you that being different isn’t that bad in the book A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass. You should just be yourself, and let nothing get in your way. Mia is unique, and now she finally believes that.