WHEN YOU REACH ME

1.    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stead, Rebecca. 2010. WHEN YOU REACH ME. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books. ISBN 978-0-385-73742-5

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Miranda is a sixth grade student with a best friend named Sal, but lately Sal doesn't want to spend time with Miranda and it all relates back to that one incident where a bigger kid punched Sal in the stomach. That one incident introduces Miranda to Marcus and from there the adventure begins. Miranda finds three notes hidden in places where no stranger could possibly have left them and they all have mysterious and ominous meanings. Through discovering new friends and renewing an old friendship Miranda learns an eye opening lesson about life and time.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book is a good read with drama, smiles and mystery. The story line seems innocuous to begin with and slowly develops into an intriguing story full of time travel pondering and a simple revelation at the end of the story. The story is very simple and could use more complexity and explanation of the character Marcus. All of the chapters are narrated by Miranda, but an improvement would be to provide a few chapters from the perspective of Marcus in different states of time; from youth to middle aged to homeless old man. There are no illustrations inside the book, but the outside cover is colorful and designed to look as a map of a city with pictures of different items mentioned in the book.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)  

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “As Miranda reminisces, the time sequencing is somewhat challenging, but in an intriguing way. The setting is consistently strong. The stores and even the streets–in Miranda's neighborhood act as physical entities and impact the plot in tangible ways. This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers.”

AMAZON.COM REVIEW: “Rebecca Stead's poignant novel, When You Reach Me, captures the interior monologue and observations of kids who are starting to recognize and negotiate the complexities of friendship and family, class and identity.”

5. CONNECTIONS 

*This book is a great way to introduce friendship themes and the concept of time travel. 

*Similar Books:

L’Engle, Madeleine. A WRINKLE IN TIME. ISBN 978-0312367541

Fitzhugh, Louise. HARRIET THE SPY. ISBN 978-0440416791