2010 Newbery Medal winner
This story in told in the voice of 6th grader Miranda and takes place in New York City. The story is constructed in a fascinating way, like a puzzle you are trying to solve, and when it all came together in the end, I was flipping back through the book to take a second look at the clues that were being supplied all along.
Miranda's favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. She reads it continuously, over and over. In this science fiction book time travel is a feature.
When You Reach Me does a great job with characters. Miranda, her friends at school, her mom, her mom's boyfriend, people in the neighborhood, people on the street, are all believable interesting people. The setting of NYC is also a place that I felt I knew better reading this story. Especially the point of view of a child growing up in the city. The relationships of Miranda and all the characters is particularly well done and the relationship are complex and evolve in interesting unpredictable ways.
At some point Miranda starts receiving mysterious little notes from an unknown source. Some of them predict the future. Accurately. The story is in great part a letter to the person sending the notes. And it is an intriguing puzzle to try and figure out who the letter is to and who is doing the sending. There is an element of really not knowing WHAT is going on through out the entire book, but this pulls you along in a fun way. And suddenly at the close of the book it all comes into focus.
I enjoyed the book! I don't think it's one that I'd INSIST anyone read, but it's very good and I can recommend it.
Miranda's favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. She reads it continuously, over and over. In this science fiction book time travel is a feature.
When You Reach Me does a great job with characters. Miranda, her friends at school, her mom, her mom's boyfriend, people in the neighborhood, people on the street, are all believable interesting people. The setting of NYC is also a place that I felt I knew better reading this story. Especially the point of view of a child growing up in the city. The relationships of Miranda and all the characters is particularly well done and the relationship are complex and evolve in interesting unpredictable ways.
At some point Miranda starts receiving mysterious little notes from an unknown source. Some of them predict the future. Accurately. The story is in great part a letter to the person sending the notes. And it is an intriguing puzzle to try and figure out who the letter is to and who is doing the sending. There is an element of really not knowing WHAT is going on through out the entire book, but this pulls you along in a fun way. And suddenly at the close of the book it all comes into focus.
I enjoyed the book! I don't think it's one that I'd INSIST anyone read, but it's very good and I can recommend it.
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