There is, quite frankly, a lot of stuff out there to like. [4], When You Reach Me takes place during the 1978-1979 school year of Miranda, the main character. July 14th 2009 They expanded on the initial concepts and published When You Reach Me on July 14, 2009, under Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House. Then they don't have to depend on the wind anymore.”, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2011), IRA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Award for Young Adult–Fiction (2010), Indies Choice Book Award for Middle Reader (2010), Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry (2010), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2009). She later realizes the phrase refers to the order and place he will send Miranda notes—her library book, a bread bag, her coat pocket and Richard's shoe. Preview this quiz on Quizizz. Allegory. So I waited a bit to hear how the group liked it. She wrote, "[F]rom age nine, my friends and I were on the streets, walking home, going to each other's houses, going to the store. When I heard that it won the John Newbery Medal for outstanding children's literature I decided it was time to add it to my TBR list. We didn't want to let the reader down. It's hard to call it sci-fi, however, since the main focus is Miranda's perfectly voiced, first-person account of negotiating friendships … by Jo Knowles. She receives a strange note asking her to record future events and write down to the location of her spare key. It was a delightful surprise. I just felt like something was missing. She calls herself 'a latchkey kid' as her Mum can't afford childcare and Miranda has to walk to school and let herself in later. He's the proud seventy-five percent owner of a twenty foot albino alligator named Sheila, You mix match gang of carnie workers, and Betty - whom he … I read several excellent reviews about it. About When You Reach Me “Like A Wrinkle in Time (Miranda’s favorite book), When You Reach Me far surpasses the usual whodunit or sci-fi adventure to become an incandescent exploration of ‘life, death, and the beauty of it all. As older people I guess we tend to over explain and over analyze. The reviewer found it beneficial that the chapter titles were added to the audio, since they seemed to add more detail about the book, but can be easily skipped over when reading. Central themes in the novel include independence, redemption and friendship. She calls herself 'a latchkey kid' as her Mum can't afford childcare and Miranda has to walk to school and let herself in later. Very original, awesome setting. The writing is well-done, and I love the language - it's quite poetic in places. [2] Stead described the novel as a talisman for Miranda;[4] she included it in the first draft and planned to remove it, "because you can't just toss A Wrinkle in Time in there casually". He thinks that it is Julia, a classmate in their class, and a best friend to Annemarie. The notes, whose writer claims to be coming to Miranda's time to save a life, offer three signs of the truth of the messages. They are even found working in a sandwich store at lunch and walking home from school while trying to avoid the laughing man. However, when he and Penny reunited, the man found out she was only his fiancée — and they had no children. The stuffed animals. Indeed, for what looks at first sight like a campus novel, it has a lot of very clever tricks up its sleeve and each short chapter advances the story along like a master magician. 2.5 stars. The tweet was quickly taken down when the mistake was noticed. There's r. I had heard lots of good things about When You Reach Me. [6] Laura Miller of The New Yorker found that this lack of independence in today's youth is mainly due to the fact that kids now grow up with adults constantly watching them. More By and About This Author. Then, our Children's Librarian chose it for her Book Thieves Book Group. She lives with her single mother who has a kindhearted boyfriend, Richard. Can't wait to read it again. Perusing the script, Lamb found herself absorbed and wanted to help develop the book. 'When you Reach Me' is a remarkable book, which mingles science fiction and mystery together without every belonging to those genres. So many people told me to read this book and I finally did. New York City. [21], The audiobook adaption of When You Reach Me was released by Listening Library and contains four disks. 2. [23], When You Reach Me was published on July 14, 2009, in hardcover format by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books. There is a bank robbery that night. The novel ends as Miranda reflects on the events in an epilogue. By Rebecca Stead. Starting middle school brings all the usual challenges - until the unthinkable happens, and Fern and her family must find a way to heal. It just didn't strike me as a book that could have a huge tween audience. It was well-written, touched on a lot of sticky issues in a really open, but tactful way, and the first person narration felt very authentic.