As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980's television game show,"The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve year old New York city girl tries to make sense of some mysterious notes received from an anonymous source which seems to defy the laws of time and space.June 5, 2009
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I think this book is a contender! It has a mystery/fantasy element but is mostly grounded in the everyday life of a 12 year old girl. It has a lot to say about friendship, and how we treat each other. A very fast read that I couldn't put down.
ReplyDeleteWow these book and the one after it have been reccomended on the most lists, this one is my guess so far
ReplyDeleteA wonderful book! I loved the mystery. I always like $20,000 Pyramid so I couldn't wait to read about how the mom did. I thought the relationships among the kids was very realistic.
ReplyDeleteI loved it! I had to really concentrate for a while but once I got it, it was so good!
ReplyDeleteI liked it, it was pretty good. I really wanted to hear about what happened to her and Sal, and didn't really care about the notes (I just thought they were plain weird). I don't think it will be the Newberry Winner, but maybe an honors book.
ReplyDeleteI liked and disliked how they used A Wrinkle in Time. It really spoils it for people who haven't read it, but it's kind of cool for people who have, since it has so much to do with the book.
It has an interesting style, since it's realistic fiction and sci-fi at the same time, which I really didn't like at first.
Librarian Nancy Pearl's Under-The-Radar Holiday Books, by Nancy Pearl
ReplyDeleteNPR 12/10/09 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121243815&ps=cprs
When You Reach Me
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, hardcover, 208 pages, Wendy Lamb Books
I could wax on about wonderful books for teens, (E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is another great read), but let's move on to an equally outstanding novel for middle-grade readers: Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me. Two different librarians — one school librarian and one who works in the public library and is herself the author of middle-grade children's books — have both predicted that Stead's book should win the Newbery Award, which is given annually by the Association for Library Service to Children "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." In any event, it should end up high on every critic's best-of-the-year list. Really, it's that good. It's one of those all too few and far between novels that you want to reread as soon as you finish them, just to see how the author so successfully wrote a fantasy that feels completely real.
In 1979, 12-year-old Miranda and her best friend Sal are savvy New York kids. They know what's safe to do, what places to avoid, and how to deal with the strange and bothersome homeless man on the corner of their street. But when Sal gets attacked — for no discernible reason — by one of their classmates, it kicks off a series of disturbing events: Miranda's apartment key — carefully hidden — disappears, and she gets the first of a series of disturbing and mysterious notes, all of which have something to do with future events. Even as Miranda tries to figure out what's going on, she has to deal with the realities of life: her crush on her classmate, Colin; her new friendship with Annemarie; and her dislike of Annemarie's former best friend, Julie. And that's leaving out the plot line about helping her mother practice to be a contestant on the television show The $20,000 Pyramid. Still, all these diverse strands come together in a most satisfactory way. Best of all, in addition to its thought-provoking plot and its realistic depiction of preteen experiences, When You Reach Me is a wonderful homage to Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, Miranda's favorite book.