When You Reach Me

Although I've loved most of my experiences with Newbery novels, reading too many of them close together can make them all start to blend together. Because so many of them are a coming of age story, focusing on a young or boy learning to deal with whatever hardships life has dealt them, some of the details begin to merge together creating a giant Newbery read instead of the individual books. Although some stories have a tendencies to run together, there are some which are a such a w original idea, completely unique unto themselves that they demand that you remember them individually. When You Reach Me by Re Stead is one such story. This book is brilliant. I might repeat that again, because I can't think of a better word to describe the story (unless I'm just going to stick with basically amazing.) I can't imagine the flow charts, timelines and diagrams Stead must have used to create this book. Everything within the story is connected, but nothing feels contrived. Too many times in stories where plot lines overlap and characters connect in unexpected ways, the coincidences become too much and too unrealistic for the necessary suspension of disbelief, and it lessens the enjoyment of the story, because I can't believe any of that would actually happen. When You Reach Me offers no such feeling. It is simply an 11 year old girl trying to come to terms with a life changing experience. Miranda (Mira) is our main character and her voice is strong. Throughout the book, Mira is struggling to determine her place in a world that is suddenly different from what she had always known her world to be. Her best (and only) friend no longer wants anything to do with her, there is a 'crazy-shaped person' living on their corner who sleeps with his head under the mailbox, and (the most disconcerting and unsettling of all) she begins finding letters within her things, asking for assistance from an unknown, unnamed source who seems to know things before they happen. Mira's mind is practical and she finds it very difficult to accept many of these new changes. I love that we are able to watch and listen as Miranda's mind broadens as she learns to accept the changes within her life. One of the complaints I had with this book the first time I read it was the desire to know more about some of the periphery characters. While that is still true to a degree, after the second read through I decided Stead's way was better, especially with Marcus. I believe Marcus is one of my new favorite literary characters. He is just so individual and he lives by such a different set of rules without ever really acknowledging that his way is any different, any more right or wrong, than anyone else's. Although I would love to know more about Marcus and the other great characters in Stead's novel, it is a selfish desire to know everything about everything, not something her novel is actually missing. I refuse to go into too many details here, because this is one book that it would be a shame to spoil. Knowing too much about this book the first time you read it ruins some of its magic. There is so much depth to this story, so much wonder and it is definitely one you must discover on your own. I believe that the brilliance of this story comes from its simple comp ties. Those are what make it such a magnificent first time read, but allows you to enjoy the story more each time you read it. The story is simple enough to appeal to the younger audience it was written for while also being complex enough to not only appeal to s and the older children, but also complex enough to withstand multiple readings. I re-read this book just the other day, about two months after my first read through, and I found myself noticing much that I missed the first time through, and enjoying it just that much more. This book was nothing short of fantastic and managed to hit upon the perfect degree of interest. It left me wanting more of the story and more of the characters, but what I was given filled all the empty places. It was everything it needed to be.

Miranda is writing a letter. She doesn't know to whom. She doesn't know why. But someone has asked her the location of the spare key. And to explain the day that her best friend, Sal, stopped wanting to hang out with her. Someone wants Miranda to write it all down ... so she is, slowly. `When You Reach Me' by Rebecca Stead was the winner of the 2010 John Newbery Medal. `When You Reach Me' is sort of like the Georges Seurat painting, "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte". Up close it's just a bunch of tiny, tiny dots - indecipherable and meaningless. But when you stand back, you get the whole picture... and it's kind of magnificent. Stead's novel is set in 1981, and is in part a recollection of her own childhood as a `key kid' in New York. She delves into the curiosities and concerns of many sixth-graders - like losing friends, getting somersault-belly when a cute boy walks past, and facing fears. For Miranda, her biggest fear is the laughing man on the corner street, the man she passes everyday on her way to and from school. He yells out insanities - "bookbag, pocketshoe" - he calls her new friend an `Angel' and Miranda a `Smartkid'. Miranda's other consuming fear though, is that she's losing her best friend, Sal. They have stopped hanging out, upon Sal's request. A run-in with a bully called Marcus has sent Sal into a sort of hibernation, and Miranda doesn't know what to do about missing him. But Stead's novel is bigger than the sum of its parts, and interspersed with Miranda's narrative about cute boy Colin, and working at Jimmy's sandwich shop, are curious asides to an unknown person who has tasked Miranda with writing a letter. This person wants to know the location of the key to Miranda's apartment. They leave notes for Miranda, foretelling of a Christmas present and her mother's appearance on Dick Clark's $20,000 Pyramid game show. This person also warns Miranda that when they meet, they will not look the same ... And therein lies the true brilliance of `When You Reach Me'. On the surface Stead's novel is an enjoyable recollection of a NYC sixth-grader navigating the torrential waters of growing up and moving on. But there's more ... oh! There's so much more. To reveal would be to ruin a wonderfully plotted semi-mystery. What I liked best about Stead's novel is that it was intended for a middle-grade audience, but also appeals to a crowd much older than that. Through Miranda, Stead explores big ideas through tactful and succinct sixth-grade musings, and it's a delight to get Miranda's view of the world. `When You Reach Me' is nothing short of incredible. When you read it through once, you'll want to go back and read it again - hold the book up in a new light and appreciate the delicacy and interwoven complexity. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

I am a college student taking a young adult literature class, and "When You Reach Me" was one of the books we were required to read. "When You Reach Me" is a book about a 12 year old girl named Miranda. Miranda is very mature for age; you will see this in the way she interacts with people, and the street smarts she has obtained from her mother. Her mother is a single parent raising her daughter in New York City. Miranda has a really good friend named Sal. Miranda and Sal's friendship drastically changes over a random incident. Which leads Miranda to new, and somewhat different friendships. The story takes a turn when she suddenly receives random notes. These notes scare her at first, but eventually she realizes the importance of them. How it all ends out is rather unexpected. This book will keep you guessing. I must say I really liked reading this book. It was a fun read, and made me think. I would recommend this book to anyone especially young adults. The book shows real life situations, that may be beneficial to a growing teen. If your looking for a fun mystery, then read this one.

I read this book to prepare for the novel unit in my classroom. I wanted to make sure I understood the book before teaching it. I am so glad I get to teach this book. It is so deep, exploring such complex emotions and situations. It's also so wonderful. I'm glad I also have a physical copy to add to my own collection of books. I absolutely will be returning to this book in the future.

Although I'm well into my adult years, I'm a huge fan of YA literature because it's entertaining, tends to be quick and easy to read, and in the best cases, can influence young adults to become empathetic, intelligent, compassionate human beings. This book accomplishes all of those tasks. It was such a short read that I managed to read it three times in the past two days. The first time I was engaged in Miranda's coming-of-age story and the mystery she finds herself entangled in when she begins to receive mysterious notes. There were many relatable elements, such as losing and making friends, having a crush, dealing with family relationships, and the many epiphanies that come along with growing from a child into an adult. The second time I went back to revisit parts that I now realized were important "clues" that I had missed along the way, and marveled at the way the author had incorporated these breadcrumbs throughout the story to bring it to such a satisfying culmination at the end. Finally, I read it one more time just to savor my favorite parts and enjoy the setting, the way the author brings New York City in the late 70's to life and captures the atmosphere so well. What I love most about the book is the journey Miranda, the protagonist, goes on, and how well her character is developed; she is insecure, confused, jealous, ungrateful, but she works towards becoming a better person and seeks to figure out how she fits into the framework of her world. Even though there is a mystery at the core of the book, which moves the plot along and makes you want to move forward to uncover what is happening, the characters are realistically drawn and surprisingly complex. Small gripe - I'm not sure if it was just the transcription to the Kindle version, but there were a few grammatical errors, i.e. persons instead of person's.

My Grand-daughter (11) and I (68) read this book for a book club. This book club centered on younger and older generations and how we viewed a book of our choice. It was a well written book which held the readers interest and the mystery element encouraged both of us to not put the book down until we finished. I feel this book was probably the best we could have chosen to read/discuss together as it combined her interest in time travel and and mine in reality based fiction. We were able to discuss and understand more of each others thinking process and how it relates to our age experiences. I have to say that I came away from the discussion group with a more clear understanding of how the younger generation's literary interests relate to the changes in their world from that which I was exposed to. I found that I am almost myopic in my view of what I read and can grasp in literature yet she has a much more mind expansion that I now can understand, appreciate and envy. Her concept of time travel is my fortune telling/she can step outside her world as I am stuck with the muck of today/what I thought was trying to escape from the present is her being able to think on a higher level. I really could go on and on about what I learned from our sharing of this book and, hopefully, she can too. Older generations be aware you might be confused at the end as it is not our norm way of thinking but expand on that (did it really happen? was Miranda caught up in the book she was so obsessed with? was it all part of growing up and being more aware of the world.) The last aspect is also a major part of the book and could also be the focus in a similar reading group. All in all-read it-enjoy and broaden your way of thinking (for us old people) and the youth of today will love it!!!!

Miranda Sinclaire is a 6th-grader in NYC, she's obsessed with A Wrinkle in Time, and lives with her petite, paralegal single mom. The mystery involves time travel, the topic of income level disparity is touched on in a sensitive manner, and it's nice to see the popular girl being black and a working-from-home parent being male for a change. However, I sensed an element of unseemliness in the messaging, and I don't think a Newbury-award winner should glorify junk food or normalize petty theft. Miranda's mom swipes office supplies from her law firm because she hates her job, Miranda considers swiping fruit from her friendly neighborhood grocer, takes cash out of her mom's coat pocket without asking, and eats the last bag of Lay's from the supply of snacks to be donated to charity. I know it's common for kid characters in popular culture today to sass their parents, and for teachers to be disrespected, but in this book the police get out-witted and their authority ignored. For years, my kids have been checking the weather and dressing appropriately for the elements, cutting their own fruit, and helping with cleaning the house - they are 10. In this book the harried single mom with the full-time job needs to cut her kid's apple, a dad is responsible for another kid's long white coat being kept clean, and when Miranda feels guilty about her own wrong-doing rather than apologize to her mom she refuses and after her mom finishes crying she takes the kid out to a movie. I saw no reason for the author including a description of "the classic fake-Chinese act, stretching his eyelids back with two fingers, and bowing down low, saying 'velly important'" where there was no Asian character or impetus to speak of. Granted, Miranda does undergo a slight redemption arc, but with all the books out there, I don't understand how this one deserves to be voted "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". I just think we should raise that bar.

If you haven't read Madeleine L'Engle's _A Wrinkle in Time_, go read that one first. (It was a Newbery medalist way back when *I* was a schoolchild.) Then, if you loved it and want more of the same sort of thing with lots of references to that work, come here. You will love it if you loved L'Engle's book. I suspected from the beginning that Marcus was not just Marcus . . . about mid-book I began to believe the thing that turns out to be (supposedly) a "surprise." But then I am reading it 30 years later (after L'Engle and many, many other books) and I am a writer, so that's not unusual . . .it means she set up things properly. Mostly, though, if you like game shows (the $10,000 Pyramid in particular) and retro stuff (it's set in the seventies, "my" time of being a teenager and growing up), you'll bond with this story and the characters. She leaves a lot unsaid and understated, which is refreshing in these days of being bashed over the head with what's going on like they do in certain other series. (Serieses?) Anyhow, for those who need more tessering, try this one. Tesser well. For more fantasy/paranormal set in the contemporary world, try APRIL, MAYBE JUNE April, Maybe June (Bliss Sisters Magical Adventures) -- two genius girls in today's world are sucked into their cousin's magical drama and almost don't escape in time.

Lectura fácil y original enfoque. Una novela bastante cortita cuya lectura suscita distintas sensaciones. En línea con lo que me esperaba. ¡La recomiendo!

It is good

Veio conforte solicitadol

As described

I loved this book so much. It's so gripping and the best book ever. I recomend to children from 9 to 12 who enjoy mysteries