2010 Newbery winner, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is the story that Miranda began to write to the sender of mysterious letters from the future. The letters predicted the future in a way that made Miranda trust that they were authentic, and the letter writer said that there were several things she must do to save a life: write a true story and tell no one about it. It’s a tightly woven mystery with a splash of sci-fi time travel and a big love letter to Miranda’s favorite book: A Wrinkle In Time.
What I liked. Oh, by the end of this book there are so many things that I loved, but without giving away any spoilers here, I thought that the relationships, the love between friends and family and couples comes through so beautifully. I also loved that even characters who seem at first to be the antagonists get redeemed in a really lovely way. Even though for so much of the book Miranda feels that middle school angst of everything being complex and hard and every relationship isn’t want she wants it to be, in the end all the main characters get a chance to love and make good and important decisions.
What was interesting /some limitations. This was a re-read for me, and it was interesting beginning it again remembering that I liked it a lot when I read it eight or nine years ago. But this time around, I found the beginning pretty jarring and parts of the opening third of the book downright confusing. But of course I knew that it all came together in the end, and there are enough clues and early payoffs to keep the reader hooked. I think that amount of confusion and dissonance that a reader enjoys and a writer creates is somewhat of a personal preference. In a mystery, of course, you have to have some confusion and partially revealed clues, so readers of mysteries tend, I would think, to have a larger tolerance for some early reading confusion. And I think that from an author’s point of view, it’s a tricky thing to pull off, but a really skilled writer can earn the reader’s trust while creating confusion. I think it’s a tricky line to walk, but that Rebecca Stead does it well.
I found an article that Rebecca Stead’s friend and editor, Wendy Lamb, wrote for The Horn Book about the process of editing this book that I found so interesting (and is worth reading in its entirety).
Rebecca was very careful about giving the reader enough clues to believe in the time travel and the logic, but not to get bogged down. We shared drafts with new readers, adults and children, to make sure that revisions hadn’t created any holes or contradictions in the plot. All along, the goal was to be certain that the logic would stand up to the merciless scrutiny of a smart kid. Someone who would finish the book and then go right back and start again, reading so closely that she or he would spot any inconsistency. We didn’t want to let that reader down.
From the July/August 2010 issue of The Horn Book Magazine “Rebecca Stead: A New York Story” by Wendy Lamb https://web.archive.org/web/20101028183719/http://www.hbook.com/magazine/articles/2010/jul10_lamb.asp
Similarity to other Newbery winners. Well obviously, A Wrinkle In Time, which of course is not only the protagonist’s favorite book and topic of discussion, but also her physical copy of the book becomes a key clue. But beyond that, the ideas of time travel and probably the love of family and power of love overall are much inspired by A Wrinkle In Time. With its city setting, it reminded me a bit of It’s Like This, Cat and Maniac Magee. With its slow revealing that what the protagonist thought that she wanted and was trying to get is actually something pretty different from what she actually needs in the end, it reminded me a bit of Walk Two Moons, Criss Cross, and Missing May. And it’s also a bit like the mysterious Westing Game.
What it teaches me as a writer. This book has a great ending where so many pieces come together: both a bit surprising and completely satisfying. There are characters who in the beginning of the book are easy to strongly dislike, but by the end, the story and clues have come together so that they are surprising heroes of the story. To pull that off, there are definitely moments early on that are confusing, but Rebecca Stead earns her reader’s trust that he or she will eventually understand. I think that dance of allowing just enough confusing clues that don’t overwhelm the reader and have a big payoff later is very impressive. I do love a book that has a good mystery and an amazing ending without having a murder and a murderer!
Have you read When You Reach Me? What are your favorite books with time travel in them?
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