When You Reach Me (Rebecca Stead)

Stead, Rebecca. When you reach me. New York: Yearling, 2010. ISBN 0375850864

Summary
Miranda is confused when she gets the first note. Her confusion only grows as increasingly mysterious events begin to unfold in her life. As a latchkey middle schooler in 1979 New York City, Miranda has the street smarts. It will take more than street smarts, however, for Miranda to unfurl the mysterious events involving herself, her friends, and the man who lives on her street corner.

Critical Analysis
This books is a well-written combination of mystery, history, science fiction, and drama. Miranda must find out who is sending the notes while navigating the loss of a best friend, learning the scientific concept of time travel, and helping her mother study for the popular game show The 20,000 Pyramid.

Stead tells a complex story with a relaxed ease that demonstrates a real understanding for the preteen mind. After Miranda receives a second note and begins to become fearful, she shares with the reader that the hardest part: “I was alone” (136). Each character in the novel has been carefully crafted and given human flaws and graces. Beyond Miranda herself, readers will discover students at their own schools in the spoiled, but ultimately lonely Julia  and the intelligent but socially awkward Marcus. Less abstract readers may struggle to pull the many threads of this novel together, but quick minds will delight in guessing the ending to this exciting, fast paced novel, When You Reach Me.

Awards and Excerpts
Newbery Medal Book
ALA Notable Books
Booklist Editors Choice 2009
Horn Book Magazine Starred Review
BookList- “the mental gymnastics required of readers are invigorating; and the characters, children and adults, are honest bits of humanity”
School Library Journal- “unusual, thought-provoking mystery”
Kirkus Reviews- “mind-blowing revelations and cunning details”

Connections
Suggest students enjoy Miranda’s favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time.
    Engle, Madeleine. A wrinkle in time. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2012. ISBN 0374386161

Suggest these books.
    Konigsburg, E. From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. New York:Aladdin
         Paperbacks, 2007. ISBN 1416949755
    Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia. New York, N.Y: Harper & Row, 1987. ISBN 0064401847
    Pearson, Kit. A handful of time. Toronto: Puffin Canada, 2007. ISBN 0143056387
    Sachar, Louis. Holes. New York: Dell Yearling, 2000. ISBN 0440414806