by Michelle Hand for TWU Course Literature for Children and Young Adults
Stead, Rebecca. 2010. WHEN YOU REACH ME New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books (Random House). ISBN: 9780385737425.
WHEN YOU REACH ME is a young adult novel loosely based on A WRINKLE IN TIME. The main character, Miranda, is struggling with the usual teenage angst of friends, boys, school and family but Stead throws a "wrinkle" in the mix and the results are mind boggling.
Critical Analysis
Miranda is a typical 12 year old who lives in New York City in 1978. She is the daughter of a single mother and she basically has free reign over her neighborhood to roam and explore with her friends, Sal, Annemarie, Colin, Marcus and Julia. Stead hits the nail on the head with the descriptions of her friends, family members and surrounding environment. She made me feel as though I was watching "Welcome Back Cotter" or a movie from my childhood. What book set in New York City wouldn't be complete without a character who is homeless? Who is this homelesss man they call "The Laughing Man?" Is he really as crazy as he seems?
Stead does a great job telling a story in short bursts of information with her sentence structure and chapter lengths. She keeps the plot moving along with great narrative and the reader will be going back to the beginning to see what was missed that were clues all along the way.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and Stead's style of writing is simple yet so intriguing, I couldn't put it down. The characters are relatable and multi-faceted. Stead pulls the reader into the plot with simple dialogue and humor but in the end, the reader discovers the plot is quite complicated. If time travel and temporal mechanics is something a reader can't quite wrap his or her brain around, then WHEN YOU REACH ME is just the book to turn the light bulb on.
Review Excerpt(s)
"This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers."–Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT - School Library Journal
"[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
"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." - The Horn Book Magazine
2010 Newbery Medal
Connections
When did you realize that is Miranda, as she narrates this story, isn't talking to us, the readers? Were you able to figure out whom she was addressing before the end?
Talk about the way in which the author makes New York City feel like a neighborhood in a small town. How are/were Miranda's day-to-day experiences living in the city different from your own...leaving school for lunch, for instance?
Were you confused by the way the book skips back and forth between past tense and present tense? Do the different time frames ultimately make sense?
How are the chapter titles related to the $20,000 Pyramid game show...and how do those titles fit into the plot?
Talk about how friendships form and fall apart in this book— Sal who stops speaking to Miranda, Annemarie, Colin and Julia. How does the author interject racism into the story and how does it affect the friendships?
Talk about they way in which all the clues come together like a puzzle at the end. Does it all make sense?
Connections from “Lit Lovers: A Well Read Community”, accessed April 27, 2013, http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/15-young-adult-fiction/1136-when-you-reach-me-stead?.
Other fantasy/time travel fiction and/or written by Rebecca Stead for young adults.
L’Engle, Madeleine. 2007. A WRINKLE IN TIME. ISBN: 978-0312367541. (Reprint, Newbery Award Winner, 1963.)
Stead, Rebecca. LIAR & SPY. ISBN: 978-0385737432
Reiss, Katherine. PALE PHOENIX. ISBN: 9780152049270
WHEN YOU REACH ME is a young adult novel loosely based on A WRINKLE IN TIME. The main character, Miranda, is struggling with the usual teenage angst of friends, boys, school and family but Stead throws a "wrinkle" in the mix and the results are mind boggling.
Critical Analysis
Miranda is a typical 12 year old who lives in New York City in 1978. She is the daughter of a single mother and she basically has free reign over her neighborhood to roam and explore with her friends, Sal, Annemarie, Colin, Marcus and Julia. Stead hits the nail on the head with the descriptions of her friends, family members and surrounding environment. She made me feel as though I was watching "Welcome Back Cotter" or a movie from my childhood. What book set in New York City wouldn't be complete without a character who is homeless? Who is this homelesss man they call "The Laughing Man?" Is he really as crazy as he seems?
Stead does a great job telling a story in short bursts of information with her sentence structure and chapter lengths. She keeps the plot moving along with great narrative and the reader will be going back to the beginning to see what was missed that were clues all along the way.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and Stead's style of writing is simple yet so intriguing, I couldn't put it down. The characters are relatable and multi-faceted. Stead pulls the reader into the plot with simple dialogue and humor but in the end, the reader discovers the plot is quite complicated. If time travel and temporal mechanics is something a reader can't quite wrap his or her brain around, then WHEN YOU REACH ME is just the book to turn the light bulb on.
Review Excerpt(s)
"This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers."–Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT - School Library Journal
"[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
"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." - The Horn Book Magazine
2010 Newbery Medal
Connections
When did you realize that is Miranda, as she narrates this story, isn't talking to us, the readers? Were you able to figure out whom she was addressing before the end?
Talk about the way in which the author makes New York City feel like a neighborhood in a small town. How are/were Miranda's day-to-day experiences living in the city different from your own...leaving school for lunch, for instance?
Were you confused by the way the book skips back and forth between past tense and present tense? Do the different time frames ultimately make sense?
How are the chapter titles related to the $20,000 Pyramid game show...and how do those titles fit into the plot?
Talk about how friendships form and fall apart in this book— Sal who stops speaking to Miranda, Annemarie, Colin and Julia. How does the author interject racism into the story and how does it affect the friendships?
Talk about they way in which all the clues come together like a puzzle at the end. Does it all make sense?
Connections from “Lit Lovers: A Well Read Community”, accessed April 27, 2013, http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/15-young-adult-fiction/1136-when-you-reach-me-stead?.
Other fantasy/time travel fiction and/or written by Rebecca Stead for young adults.
L’Engle, Madeleine. 2007. A WRINKLE IN TIME. ISBN: 978-0312367541. (Reprint, Newbery Award Winner, 1963.)
Stead, Rebecca. LIAR & SPY. ISBN: 978-0385737432
Reiss, Katherine. PALE PHOENIX. ISBN: 9780152049270
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