When You Reach Me

I mostly went for this because reviews on LibraryThing indicated it was in some way connected to A Wrinkle in Time. It's a slim book, just under two hundred pages, and I blew right through it, both because it's a very easy read and because I very much enjoyed it. The book is about a young girl in 1970s New York living with her single mother, and I found it keenly observed and also funny. I was so into it that I found myself very tense with the last chapter, and emotional at the way it resolved.

Other reviews here on LT will give you a good sense of what makes the book so good, so here I just want to highlight a couple things that stuck out to me. That said, if you think you might read this book, I recommend not reading the spoiler boxes show more in my next paragraph, because I will give something away that I think might work better as a creeping revelation... though I knew it going in and found my enjoyment was fine.

The first is, as probably many people have pointed out, the book is a response to A Wrinkle in Time. I always tell my students you need to look for those moments of metafiction in a book, those moments where a work draws attention to its own fictionality because in those moments the work is often (somewhat paradoxically) trying to stake a claim to being realistic. When You Reach Me does this by having a character draw attention to a lapse of time-travel logic in Wrinkle—a lapse you thus might not be surprised to realize that When You Reach Me does not commit itself. But it's not just time travel logic where When You Reach Me reads like a more realistic version of Wrinkle in Time, it's also in its depiction of young Miranda's social circumstances. Meg in Wrinkle is being raised by a single mother... but that's because her father is an astronaut on a space mission, and the kids all live in a big house with lots of accoutrements and opportunities. Miranda is the product of a one-off relationship and lives in a small apartment and is a victim of snobbery by classmates with more money. The critique clearly comes out of affection, but it is a critique of the original nonetheless.

The other thing that stuck out to me is an aspect of Miranda's psychology. Last summer, I learned about "attachment styles," a psychological concept that there are four different ways we relate to others. A couple online quizzes have informed me that I am "anxious": "People with an anxious attachment style can be consumed with concern that their loved ones will abandon them, and they may seek constant reassurance that they’re safe in their relationship." I am often preoccupied with the feeling that my loved ones probably don't love me back, that my friends might like me all right, but they probably don't really like me. In Miranda, I found one of the most thoughtful but also subtle depictions of anxious attachment; though secure in her relationship with her mother, Miranda constantly feels like her friends don't actually like her and worries that they will abandon her... even thought they never actually do! I don't know if this was intentional on Stead's part, but I found it a very powerful thread within the novel, even if it was only a small part of the tapestry. show less

There's something wonderful about discovering a fantastic children's book. Like the first Harry Potter, just one book has the power to turn a child into a life-long reader. This is one of those.

Miranda is a 12 year old latchkey kid in Manhattan in the late 1970s. Her best friend Sal is ignoring her, she is tentatively making new friends, and she is being sent quirky messages from an unknown source - little pieces of paper asking favors of her and predicting things that will and do happen. The writer assures her with increasing urgency that he or she will save her friend's life, but she doesn't know which friend or who could need saving.

Miranda's favorite book is Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time and those who are also fans will get show more some clue to the mystery, although knowledge of the L'Engle book is by no means necessary. The puzzle steadily unravels in a startling and dramatic way that compels the reader to go back over the previous chapters for clues. Unfortunately, this is not possible when one is listening to a book, - so that was a little frustrating.

Cynthia Holloway's narration was terrific, especially in voicing the children in the story. She is less successful with the adults, Miranda's young mother in particular. This character is a frustrated paralegal and a free spirit who is practicing for her upcoming stint on "The $20,000 Pyramid". Holloway chooses to employ a quavering treble to her voice which suggests more feeble old lady with an attitude than former flower child. But Miranda tells this story and Holloway makes her sound every bit like the smart 12-year old she is. Listening to this character become more aware of the world and people around her is enormously effective.

I can just imagine tons of kids enthusiastically telling their friends: "You have GOT to read this book." The puzzle is intriguing and the story is gripping. A great read. show less

As a colleague aptly described, reading this book is like watching an episode of "Mad Men": Things happen or are said that seem inconsequential at the time but later are an integral part of the whole. This is the kind of book that will send you on a mind-bending head trip but you'll want to go back and re-read once you know how it all plays out. A fine example of how children's/YA literature is often more satisfying than a lot of contemporary adult fiction.

3/31/10 Listened to the audio version narrated by Cynthia Holloway. This can be even more mind-boggling than the print version since you can't easily flip back in the story. I also expected more of a dark tone because that's how I read the book but Ms Holloway puts more of a light, show more young spin on it. show less

What a wonderful little novel! Miranda is a bona fide latch key kid who gets to walk home from school with her best friend Sal in 1978 New York City. One day, Sal is hit by a bigger kid on the way home and after that, he doesn't want to be friends anymore. Miranda is confusued, but the puzzle continues when she begins receiving anonymous notes. With nods to A Wrinkle in Time and the old gameshow, The 20,000 pyramid, Stead provided a cohesive narrative that made had me paging back to check on previous chapters and wanting to read it again after I raced to the finish.

In a conventional novel for young people, Miranda Sinclair’s mother practicing to be a contestant on The $20,000 Pyramid would be the highlight — nay, the entirety — of the novel. But by now you’ve guessed that When You Reach Me is no ordinary novel; instead, it’s one of the most unconventional novels I’ve ever read — and I’m including The Name of the Rose, The Icarus Hunt, Dorp Dead, and Miranda’s favorite book of all time, A Wrinkle in Time. Miranda’s mother, a bleeding-heart paralegal and single mom, does achieve her dream of garnering a spot on the ABC game show, but that fact is dwarfed by the main point of the novel, which doesn’t reveal itself until two-thirds of the way through.

When You Reach Me is best show more enjoyed when the reader goes in without knowing much. But I can reveal that the novel dwells on how a small act can profoundly affect those around you, for good or ill. That what has become a platitude can be expressed so profoundly and uniquely is a testament to author Rebecca Stead’s talent. Miranda and her friends Sal, Annemarie, Colin, Marcus Heilbronner, and Julia — whether in their pettiness or superciliousness or self-absorbed cruelty or bad-boy misunderstood pose — will strike the reader as real kids, with all the rough edges and inexplicable kindnesses and cruelties that that implies. Whether you’re an adult or child, this will be one of the more original works you’ll ever read.

So why four stars and not five? The book didn’t reach me emotionally in the same way as, say, The Wrinkle in Time or The Ring of Rocamadour or The Magic Thief did, although I can’t quite put my finger on why. As a native New Yorker, I should have fallen in love with this chronicle of New York City’s West Side in 1978, but I never did. Perhaps, like Charles Wallace Murray in The Wrinkle in Time, I somehow just couldn’t connect. But I suspect that the mystery didn’t start building too late for me to become swept up in the book. Still, very much recommended. show less

The perfect antidote to War and Peace, which is slowly killing my love of reading. Also, Rebecca Stead's novel should be issued as a primer to all those dim bulbs on the IMDb Terminator board who don't believe that Kyle Reese is, will be and has always been John Connor's father:

'So if you jump backward, you are at that moment - you are in that picture - and you always were there, you always will be there, even if you don't know it yet.'

This is just such a neat little story, narrated by a captivating twelve year old called Miranda - named after the Miranda warning 'criminal' - who lives with her game show contestant-in-training mother in 1970s New York. Thoughtful, witty, touching and sweet, with a clever twist, I thoroughly enjoyed this show more brief interlude from slogging through 'classic' literature! I might also finally get around to reading Madeleine L'Engle next! show less

It's 1979, and Miranda is a savvy Manhattan city-dweller: she knows to ignore the rough boys who hang out at the garage down the street, not to talk to the crazy homeless man who sleeps with his head under the mailbox, and to have her key out and ready when she gets to her apartment door. Her main preoccupations are with school, friends, and helping her mother prep for an upcoming appearance on the game show The $20,000 Pyramid. But then, all of a sudden, things start to change. After an inexplicable encounter with another kid on the street, Miranda's best friend Sal stops talking to her -- even though his getting punched wasn't her fault. Even more mysteriously, strange notes begin arriving for Miranda. What do they mean? Who are they show more from? What should Miranda do about them?

Every time I read this book, I am impressed at the tight plotting and skillful writing. Listening to the audio version was no exception, and Cynthia Holloway's narration perfectly captured Miranda's smart, youthful voice. This is a book that gives its readers credit for intelligence without seeming at all pretentious, and while it may have its flaws, I certainly can't pick them out. The characters are nuanced and grow throughout the course of the story, the pacing is steady, the story is neither too long nor too short, and there are bonus references to A Wrinkle in Time. What's not to love? show less