When You Reach Me is a story about regret. It’s about time travel and love and dreams. It’s about friendship and growing up and making mistakes. And maybe more than all of that, it’s a story about doing everything you can to make things right. Well, anyway, it’s complicated…you know…in that way that makes books great.
Miranda is a sixth grader growing up in New York City. She seems to have things pretty sorted out. Her mom and dependable boyfriend Richard have a stable and loving relationship. She has a best friend named Sal that she has spent almost every day with since she was a toddler. She knows how to avoid the crazies on the streets, how to avoid getting mugged, and where to go and what to do in case of emergencies. Finally, she knows who her favorite author is, and she knows just about every line in A Wrinkle in Time.
However, she doesn’t know how to respond when Sal gets attacked for no reason on the street. She doesn’t know what to do when he doesn’t want to be friends anymore. And she certainly doesn’t know how to respond when she receives several notes from the future that request her to chronicle what’s going on in her life. So, at a loss for what to do, she decides to take the advice from the future notes, and start a letter to the mysterious person that seems to know so much about her life.
There are so many excellent things to talk about in this story that there is no way I could mention them all. Miranda is everything you could ask for in a narrator. She is inquisitive about the things you want to know more about. She is funny, truthful, and easy to follow. On top of that, Miranda is likeable, brave, and yet still fallible. She is smart, but not a genius; cute, but not too pretty; and good; but not a saint. She is relatable, has good taste in books, and, simply put, if I was in the 6th grade, I would want to be friends with her.
Remember though, that is just ONE of the characters. In fact, as I read through this book for the second time, I realized that there is not a single character in the book that you can’t relate with and that does not possess a remarkable amount of depth. When You Reach Me is a book that seems to deal with crazy ideas like time travel, and somehow feel completely real. Because the book is so character driven, the pacing of the plot as it revolves around such interesting people is excellent. The story doesn’t bog down and despite bringing up the intricacies involved when talking about the past and future, the text never gets ponderous or overly technical.
When it comes to setting, I have trouble imagining a more fruitful place than New York City. The busy city allows for so many plot angles that kids from all over can relate with Miranda and her friends. While it might appeal more to urban young adults the most, the story has enough universal elements that rural kids can appreciate the story as well.
In the end, it’s tough to single out one audience for this book. While it is clearly meant for 4th through 8th grade kids, I have recommended this book to adults as well. It has that quality about it that makes it a good read for lots of people. Apparently the Newbery Award Committee agreed since it won the 2010 award. It could be used in a number of different programs, but it seems like an easy inclusion in a Fantasy or Sci-Fi reading program for middle schoolers. Thumbs up to Rebecca Stead, I will be looking for more of her work in the future!
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