*sorry this picture is blurry. i didn't realize how blurry it was until i return it. but it makes it feel alittle otherwordly which is perfect for this novel, so it works.
i picked up when you reach me because it is a newbery medal winner. i also enjoyed the cover art. i had no idea what the book was about, but that made for a better read. (so if you haven't read it, stop here, seriously everything will spoil this book for you!)
when you reach me is the story of a girl, miranda, and the letters about her life she had to write due to secret notes she has received. the letters are from a stranger and are suppose to help save her friend. a series of random things happen to her prior to the notes appearing. first, her best friend sal stopped talking to her. this happened after an even stranger event, a boy just randomly walked up to sal, as he and miranda were walking home, and punched him in the stomach. a crazy homeless man appeared on her street corner, talking to himself, and doing high kicks. the kids are kept in at lunchtime at school, because a naked man is seen running around down the street. all of these things seemed really odd, but they all come together in the end. (i have to admit i missed the foreshadowing of the naked man, i just assumed it was random little anecdote.)
in the end it is discovered that all of these weird events and the notes have to do with time travel!
before i go on, i have to share that what i loved most about this book was the inclusion of madeline l'engle 's a wrinkle in time. a wrinkle in time is miranda's favorite book in the story. she carried it around and is constantly rereading it. it is due to this book that marcus and miranda first discuss time travel. marcus pointed out that there was an error in the book. if meg and charles wallace had returned 5 minutes before everything had occured wouldn't they have seen themselves land in the garden before they left? this is true. marcus was right. and future marcus was right because he time-traveled back to safe sal!
i won't go into detail about what occurred but in short, future marcus saved sal. and stead did an excellent job of tying everything together. as i mentioned before, i had no idea the naked man in the street was due to the time travelling. i loved how everything came full circle, though i was sadden by future marcus' fate but he was an old man and ready for it.
when you reach me had additional storylines. miranda's mom was picked to go on $20,000 pyramid and part of the novel was her preparation for the show. since miranda and sal are no longer friends, she became friends with colin and annamarie. the three of them get jobs at a sandwich shop. and of course, like any adolescent story, there is always some kind of drama between friends, which occurs between miranda, annamaire and annamarie's ex-best friend, julia. these additional stories not only added to the story but also distracted from the time travel plot as well. well played, stead.
the thing that i found interesting, was the issue of race and class and the prejudices that a reader reads with. i am not sure if this was stead's intent or if i am just super racist. i mean the latter is true, so that is probably the case. i was confronted with my racism when jimmy called julia swiss miss, in reference to the hot chocolate, though miranda meant it about her trips to switzerland. up until then i had not realized that julia was black. i had assumed since she was rich that she was white. here is where class became an issue as well. (class was addressed directly with miranda comparing her home and life to that of annamarie's who is wealthier). i know how horrible of me, but i mean the girl talked about going to switzerland, isn't that where white people go on a vacay (okay, i am racist, sorry). i then realized i was being extremely racist as i read. i believe miranda or her mom was described as white, though now i am second guessing everything. since she was white, i assumed that sal was white. i also assumed that the boys that caused trouble on the corner was black as was the crazy man on the corner. also i assumed marcus was black too since he punched sal. however, race was not mentioned for anyone else except julia, oh and richard (miranda's mom's boyfriend being german). well explicitly anyway, i just read on a website that it was implied that jimmy was asian but that went over my head. i am embarrassed that i could be so horrible with stereotypes but i am. again well played, stead for having the read confront the prejudices they have about race so directly though it was presented subtlety.
overall, when you reach me was a great book and very worthy of it's newbery medal. if you haven't read it you should. it has also inspired me to reread a wrinkle in time, which is perfect because the graphic novel version has been sitting on my bookshelf since january.
in the end it is discovered that all of these weird events and the notes have to do with time travel!
before i go on, i have to share that what i loved most about this book was the inclusion of madeline l'engle 's a wrinkle in time. a wrinkle in time is miranda's favorite book in the story. she carried it around and is constantly rereading it. it is due to this book that marcus and miranda first discuss time travel. marcus pointed out that there was an error in the book. if meg and charles wallace had returned 5 minutes before everything had occured wouldn't they have seen themselves land in the garden before they left? this is true. marcus was right. and future marcus was right because he time-traveled back to safe sal!
i won't go into detail about what occurred but in short, future marcus saved sal. and stead did an excellent job of tying everything together. as i mentioned before, i had no idea the naked man in the street was due to the time travelling. i loved how everything came full circle, though i was sadden by future marcus' fate but he was an old man and ready for it.
when you reach me had additional storylines. miranda's mom was picked to go on $20,000 pyramid and part of the novel was her preparation for the show. since miranda and sal are no longer friends, she became friends with colin and annamarie. the three of them get jobs at a sandwich shop. and of course, like any adolescent story, there is always some kind of drama between friends, which occurs between miranda, annamaire and annamarie's ex-best friend, julia. these additional stories not only added to the story but also distracted from the time travel plot as well. well played, stead.
the thing that i found interesting, was the issue of race and class and the prejudices that a reader reads with. i am not sure if this was stead's intent or if i am just super racist. i mean the latter is true, so that is probably the case. i was confronted with my racism when jimmy called julia swiss miss, in reference to the hot chocolate, though miranda meant it about her trips to switzerland. up until then i had not realized that julia was black. i had assumed since she was rich that she was white. here is where class became an issue as well. (class was addressed directly with miranda comparing her home and life to that of annamarie's who is wealthier). i know how horrible of me, but i mean the girl talked about going to switzerland, isn't that where white people go on a vacay (okay, i am racist, sorry). i then realized i was being extremely racist as i read. i believe miranda or her mom was described as white, though now i am second guessing everything. since she was white, i assumed that sal was white. i also assumed that the boys that caused trouble on the corner was black as was the crazy man on the corner. also i assumed marcus was black too since he punched sal. however, race was not mentioned for anyone else except julia, oh and richard (miranda's mom's boyfriend being german). well explicitly anyway, i just read on a website that it was implied that jimmy was asian but that went over my head. i am embarrassed that i could be so horrible with stereotypes but i am. again well played, stead for having the read confront the prejudices they have about race so directly though it was presented subtlety.
overall, when you reach me was a great book and very worthy of it's newbery medal. if you haven't read it you should. it has also inspired me to reread a wrinkle in time, which is perfect because the graphic novel version has been sitting on my bookshelf since january.
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