It makes sense to me that a book where an integral part of the story relies on information from a past Newbery Medal winner would become an Newbery Medal winner itself. In When You Reach Me, the favorite book of Miranda is A Wrinkle in Time, the 1963 winner.
Miranda's life is pretty unremarkable until the day she finds a note in her library book. Miranda is 12 year old, living with her mother in apartment in a run down section of Manhattan in 1979. Beyond the normal middle school politics of who's cool and who's not, the biggest crisis in her life is the loss of her friendship with her childhood friend, Sal. Then she finds a note with a cryptic message that tells her “I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own...I will not be myself when I reach you,” asking her to “write me a letter.” This book is the letter Miranda wrote to her unknown pen pal.
There is plenty of suspense, intermingled with Miranda's struggles to connect with new friends, to keep this book a true page turner. The ending is ironically both expected, yet unexpected, as Stead neatly ties in all the gaps, leaving the reader thinking, “Aha! That's what that clue meant.” This book receives my vote as a worthy Newbery Medal winner.
Patricia Schroader
Children's Librarian
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