Skip to main content

When You Reach Me

By

When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
Random House, 2009. 197 pgs. Juvenile fiction.
Considerable Newbery talk is swirling around When You Reach Me, and rightly so as it combines the best aspects of two previous winners--Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, and Lynne Rae Perkins' Criss Cross--to create a splendid story in its own right. The narrative takes the form of a letter Miranda, the protagonist, writes to an unknown correspondent who seems to be sending her messages from the future, one of which asks her to write the letter. If that seems circular it is meant to be as the story spins on the question of time travel, but it is also firmly grounded in the delights and despairs of pre-teen life in 70s New York. As Miranda's mother frantically trains to make big bucks on the $20,000 Pyramid, Miranda is trying to figure out why her best friend Sal stopped talking to her after he got punched out for no apparent reason by Marcus, a kid neither of them knew, and how to navigate the perilous waters of being friends with Annemarie but not with Julie. When You Reach Me has everything: mystery, suspense, expansive scientific thinking, the perils and joys of familial and friendly relationships, and the question of how Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which got Meg and Charles Wallace back into the garden five minutes before they left without their being able to see themselves leaving. A real crackerjack of a book. I loved it.
Labels:

Comments

curlyq said…
This was an incredible book--it reels you in and doesn't let you go. However, it's an extremely readable book and I believe even less enthusiastic readers can enjoy it...if they can get past the rather dull and unappealing cover. Excellent, excellent story.
September 19, 2009 at 3:43 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: A Game of Noctis

By
A Game of Noctis By Deva Fagan New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. Fiction. 310 pages. On the island of Dantessa, social standings and wealth are determined by your place in the Great Game. If you keep on winning, you can reap treasures, power, and security for yourself and your family; but if you lose too many games, you'll be exiled to Pawn Island and a life of servitude. That's what happens to 12-year-old Pia's grandfather. Due to poor vision, he struggles to see the games, but also can't afford new eyeglasses without winning. When his score falls to zero, he is sent away. Desperate to bring him back, Pia joins a ragtag group of misfits to form a team for the annual game of Noctis. The game requires contestants to perform dangerous challenges in front of a live audience, and no one outside the wealthy Diamond District has ever won. Each member of Pia's team, the Seafoxes, has their own reason to compete, but if they're going to win they'll h...
Post a Comment
Read more