When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
★★★★

I heard way too much about this book before I read it. Going into it I thought it was a novel about a time-traveler that flashed back and forth between the 1970s and another time. Yes, there is time-travel, but it’s actually a rather small part of the story, which in this case worked really well.

The main plot focuses on Miranda and her single mother. Miranda is a sixth-grader and she’s helping her mom train for a game show that she’s going to be on. I love the details that Miranda shares about her everyday life in New York. Her character felt very real to me.

Sal, Miranda’s best friend, is the victim of a seemingly random act of bullying and afterwards the two friends drift apart. Then Miranda begins to receive some strange notes from someone who seems to know the future. The plot, which at first seems disjointed, all comes together by the end of the book.

One of my favorite parts of the story is Miranda’s constant references to her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time. She carries it around with her and describes it to others. I absolutely remember feeling that way about certain books when I was growing up. I felt so attached to them. I wanted everyone else to read them and I couldn’t help applying their plots to my own life. 

Though this isn’t one I’d probably re-read, I really enjoyed it and it made me want to re-read A Wrinkle in Time.

For a few more thoughts on this book, check out the reviews at…
Stainless Steel Droppings
Fluttering Butterflies
Seaside Book Nook

Books Lead to More books

(Gratuitous puppy pic because I love my dog)

One of my favorite things about reading is the crazy way books connect. Every time I read a book it tends to lead to another one. Sometimes it’s because an author of novel is specifically mentioned in the book. Other times it’s because it’s a book inspired by something else or a re-telling of a classic story, etc.

For example, just after finishing Robinson Crusoe, I started Kindred, in which the main character reads parts of Robinson Crusoe to another character. I love those unexpected connections. You find them frequently in books where a character is a bookseller or an avid reader, but they pop up other times too.

In When You Reach Me, the main character talks about her favorite novel, A Wrinkle in Time. Also, her mother tells her she's named after a character in The Tempest. In The God of Small Things the characters read books by Rudyard Kipling.

I love it every time that happens. It makes it feel like all the books in the world are somehow connected, like a giant game of Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon… but with books.

Has this ever happened to you guys? If so, with what books?

Photo by moi.