When You Reach Me

Stead, R. (2009). When you reach me. New York: Random House.

Book Summary

When You Reach Me is about Miranda, a young girl living in New York in the seventies. Her favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time, so when she receives a note that seems like it is from the future, it scares her but she believes that it could be true. More notes appear, with requests that match what is happening in her life. Her mother is going to go on a game show, Miranda starts working in a sandwich shop, her best friend stops speaking to her, and Miranda has several encounters with a strange, laughing man on her street. Aspects of the notes coincide with some of these experiences, unsettling Miranda. However, she decides to follow the notes’ instructions and chronicle her experiences.  

Impressions

Anyone who read A Wrinkle in Time as a child would love this book. There’s the same sense of magic from that book in this new story by Stead. There’s also a sense of history because the author details living in New York as a child and the prejudices of the seventies. Although the novel contains time travel, it is not focused on science fiction; the novel is really more about a young girl growing up in New York and struggling with what it means to grow up. Miranda’s best friend is a young boy in her building and the two of them grow apart at the beginning of the book. This is upsetting to Miranda because she doesn’t want to lose her best friend. There’s also another subplot concerning one of Miranda’s frenemies, a young black girl, who shows the prejudices still occurring in the city. For readers, this is for elementary readers but is also a book that would appeal to adults because of the author’s reminiscing of her own childhood.

Professional Review

 “Sixth-grader Miranda lives in 1978 New York City with her mother, and her life compass is Madeleine L’Engles "A Wrinkle in Time". When she receives a series of enigmatic notes that claim to want to save her life, she comes to believe that they are from someone who knows the future. Miranda spends considerable time observing a raving vagrant who her mother calls the laughing man and trying to find the connection between the notes and her everyday life. Discerning readers will realize the ties between Miranda’s mystery and L’Engles plot, but will enjoy hints of fantasy and descriptions of middle school dynamics. Steads novel is as much about character as story. Miranda’s voice rings true with its faltering attempts at maturity and observation. The story builds slowly, emerging naturally from a sturdy premise. As Miranda reminisces, the time sequencing is somewhat challenging, but in an intriguing way. The setting is consistently strong. The stores and even the streetsin Mirandas neighborhood act as physical entities and impact the plot in tangible ways. This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers."

Augusta, C. (2009, July 1). School Library Journal.

                                                                                       

Library Uses

I would use this in a book club any day. When You Reach Me won the Newbery Award in 2010. The plot and characters of this story would provide lots of good group discussions concerning growing up, prejudice, the likelihood of time travel, and what you would do if you could time travel.