When You Reach Me

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_You_Reach_Me

Stead, Rebecca. 2009. When You Reach Me. New York, NY: Random House Children's Books. ISBN 0385737424

Summary

Twelve-year-old Miranda lives with her Mom in a run down New York apartment. It is the late 1970's, and Miranda's mother is preparing to be on The $20,000 Pyramid. Miranda and her longtime best friend Sal help each other safely navigate the streets of New York, avoiding the scary older kids hanging out and the seemingly mentally ill man on the corner. When one day, a kid punches Sal for no apparent reason, Sal suddenly stops spending time with Miranda. Hurt and confused, Miranda befriends two other classmates, Annemarie and Colin. In addition to her struggles of six grade, Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes asking for her help that appear to foretell her future. 

Critical Analysis

Readers will find themselves drawn into the world of twelve-year-old Miranda as she rereads her way through her well-worn copy of A Wrinkle In Time once again. All the characters in When You Reach Me act and talk in a believable manner, the dialogue reflects the attitudes of middle school aged children living in New York City and trying to find meaning in the world around them. Part mystery, part historical fiction, part science fiction, Stead seamlessly blends genres to create an original and intriguing story that will captivate the reader and keep them turning pages as the story reveals itself. The mysterious notes left for Miranda turn the novel into a puzzle that when the pieces fall into place ties the storyline in with Miranda's obsession with L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time.

The setting of New York City in the 1970s is revealed through Stead's descriptions of Miranda's school, her aging apartment building, Jimmy's deli, and Miranda's walk home from school. Stead touches on many themes in this short novel, such as friendship, racism, socioeconomic differences, and time travel. The book's ending encourages belief in the hard to conceive, and reminds young readers that people may be something other than what we have perceived. 

Reviews

A Booklist starred review from June 01,2009 states, "The '70s New York setting is an honest reverberation of the era; the mental gymnastics required of readers are invigorating; and the characters, children and adults, are honest bits of humanity no matter in what place or time their souls rest. Just as Miranda rereads L'Engle, children will return to this."

A June 22, 2009, Publisher's Weekly review has this praise: "Eventually and improbably, these strands converge to form a thought-provoking whole. Stead (First Light) accomplishes this by making every detail count, including Miranda's name, her hobby of knot tying and her favorite book, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time."

Awards

When You Reach Me won the Newbery Medal Award in 2010. It was also awarded in 2009 an award for Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books and School Library Journal Best Books of the Year.

Connections

When You Reach Me would make an excellent book club selection for middle grade readers or younger teen readers. The online book club site LitLovers offers talking points to help get a discussion started for When You Reach Me that book groups are free to use with attribution. 

After discussing the book, the book club or book circle could play their own version of the 20,000 Pyramid. The categories could be taken from the book, such as types of sandwiches, NYC, and things in a classroom. 

Books In Print. Texas Woman's University. Accessed November 23, 2013

LitLovers. 2013. "When You Reach Me (Stead) - Discussion Questions." Retrieved from http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/15-young-adult-fiction/1136-when-you-reach-me-stead?start=3