WHEN YOU REACH ME
Bibliography:
Stead, Rebecca. 2009. WHEN YOU REACH ME. New York. Wendy Lamb Books. ISBN 9780385737425.
Plot Summary:
Miranda is an ordinary middle school student. She lives with
her mother in a New York City apartment. Mom’s boyfriend, Richard – “Mr.
Perfect (except his right leg is shorter than his left)” – spends much of his
time with them. A latch-key kid, Miranda always walks home from school with her
best buddy Sal. Together they navigate their neighborhood, trying to avoid the
crazy man on the corner. They call him “Laughing Man.” Until one day after
being punched by a strange kid, Sal abruptly ends his friendship with Miranda.
That is when Miranda starts getting strange letters. The anonymous writer says
he is going to save Miranda’s friend’s life and he needs her to write a letter
for him. Miranda is intrigued and frightened, especially after she receives the
next note which correctly predicts future events in her life.
While trying to resolve this mystery, Miranda gets caught in
the daily routine of a sixth grader. She develops a friendship with classmates
Annemarie and Colin, with whom she helps at Jimmy’s at their lunch time. Later,
Miranda meets Marcus, the boy who hit Sal. As Miranda gets to know Marcus, she
discovers that he isn’t mean, but he is extremely intelligent. Marcus provides
a thought provoking commentary on Miranda’s favorite book A WRINKLE IN TIME.
One day on her way from school Miranda witnesses Sal running
into traffic from Marcus. Sal is nearly hit by a truck, but Laughing Man saves
Sal by kicking him out of the way and dies in his place. Miranda tries to
connect the dots: she realizes that Laughing Man is travelling back from the
future Marcus, who came to save her friend and was sending her letters. This
book is Miranda’s mission to save Sal. She writes every detail of her adventure
and must give it to present-day Marcus. It will remind him to return to the
past when he discovers how to travel through time.
Critical Analysis:
Rebecca Stead created an enjoyable example of fantasy for
young adults – WHEN YOU REACH ME. It is a compilation of mystery, realistic
fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction (it is set in New York’s
upper-Westside during 1978-79).
The heroine of WHEN YOU REACH ME is 12-year old “latchkey
kid” Miranda. Miranda struggles to make sense of her world. She balances
between solving mysterious letters and daily experiences like lost friendship,
self-doubt, coming of age. Stead gives us access to Miranda’s internal
landscape through her authentic narrative voice and well-chosen sensory
details: the smell of dry-cleaner exhaust, the way her hexagonal bathroom tile
shifts into different patterns when she stares at it, the mesmerizing quality
of light reflected on the oily water of a saucepan.
A primary theme is the importance of friendship. Miranda and
her friends learn how to develop new and to maintain friendship without
stifling it. They discover that you can build a strong relationship without
regard to race or wealth or other circumstances in life. As soon as A WRINKLE IN TIME appears in a book’s plot, the
reader recognizes a time-travel theme. Stead reveals the secret of “tessering”
– taking shortcuts through time and space. WHN YOU REACH ME is a great story
about the nature of time, friendship, compassion, and sacrifice. Rebecca Stead
gives kids access to the wonder, doubts, and worries of someone their age.
Experts Reviews:
2010 ALA Best Books for Young Adults Top 10
"Closing revelations are startling and satisfying but quietly made, their reverberations giving plenty of impetus for the reader to go back to the beginning and catch what was missed." Horn Book Magazine
"[W]hen all the sidewalk characters from Miranda's Manhattan world converge amid mind-blowing revelations and cunning details, teen readers will circle back to the beginning and say,'Wow... cool.'" --Kirkus Reviews.
"This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers." School Library Journal.
"It's easy to imagine readers studying Miranda's story as many times as she's read L'Engle's, and spending hours pondering the provocative questions it raises." Publishers Weekly.
Read A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle.
What role did it play in this book?
Why is it significant to the events in this story?
"It's easy to imagine readers studying Miranda's story as many times as she's read L'Engle's, and spending hours pondering the provocative questions it raises." Publishers Weekly.
Connections:
What role did it play in this book?
Why is it significant to the events in this story?
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