Book Review: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me is the tale of latchkey-kid Miranda Sinclair and a series of mysterious letters she receives from an anonymous sender. The letters ask Miranda to write down her own story of what happens to her--only "it" hasn't happened yet. The letters are notes, really, small scraps of paper on which the writer insists he, or she, is trying to save a life. In addition, strange thefts are taking place--a pair of boots from the apartment she shares with her mother, the local sandwich shop's bank of $2 bills--causing Miranda to wonder if she is in danger.

Stead (author of 2010 Rebecca Caudill nominee, First Light) references Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time early on, and repeatedly throughout the story, foreshadowing the use of time travel. Though comparisons to A Wrinkle in Time are invited, When You Reach Me takes place very much in the real world. No traveling across universes or entering lands of fantasy in this novel. And conversations between characters explain nicely the confusing details of time travel as they pertain to this particular story. Middle-grade readers and older shouldn't have trouble following the plot.

More than a time-travel plot, though, the story reveals, in small increments, the nuances of twelve-year-old Miranda's life. Taking place in the late 1970s, Miranda copes with, besides the quandary of the mysterious letters, a rift with her once-best-friend Sal, her jealousy of a wealthy schoolmate, her own poverty, a part-time job, the crazy homeless man on the corner of her street, her mother's appearance on The $20,000 Pyramid, and her first kiss.

The mystery of the letters is resolved with an exciting event and satisfactory revelation. Adults will find When You Reach Me a quick, entertaining read. Middle-grade readers will find it absorbing and thoughtful.

Buy When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead at:
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www.powells.com
www.barnesandnoble.com