When You Reach Me

Written by Rebecca Stead and published in 2009,  When You Reach Me is a science fiction children's novel that is also a winner of the Newbery Medal Award.  While reading this book, I honestly found it very difficult to follow along and do not know that I would necessarily recommend it for an elementary school student to read. The plot is extremely complex and is probably best suited for a middle grades student.  When You Reach Me is a text that should be read multiple times in order for it to be understood in its entirety, however its intense plot allows readers to truly focus in with their attention in order to understand the book in its entirety. The story is based around a girl named Miranda who begins recieving notes from a stranger.  Throughout the story, Miranda struggles to solve the many mysteries associated with recieving these notes, while in the end learning more about herself and her friends than she could have ever imagined.  As the story draws to close, readers soon realize that the strange notes are coming from the Laughing Man who is in turn essentially an older version of Sal. 

Written from the view of Miranda, readers learn that A Wrinkle in Time  is her favorite book.  Miranda's love for this book allows readers to draw many connections between elements of both stories.  For instance, Miranda is constantly fascinated with the desire to travel through time, which is present within A Wrinkle in Time.  Through the incorporation of time travel withing the text, the author is able to illustrate her view that going back in time is simply ones desire to change the fulfill the future rather than change it.  Miranda is able to help readers understand this during her evolution as a character throughout the text.  By the end, readers will view Miranda as a adolescent just like themselves who is struggling to understand the world and the people she loves that are a part of her world.
point of Miranda, this novel offers readers a glimpse into the life of a middle school girl which many tween and teen readers will easily be able to relate with.  As she tells her story about the game show her mom is entering to try and win the family a significant amount of money, her dialogue includes a blend a historical, mysterious, and scientific fictional elements.  One unique element of this text is that the main character, Miranda, is constantly carrying around with her