So when you read a book
that won the Newbery Medal, you know that a few people already noticed
it and thought it was pretty good. Still, that’s no guarantee that I’ll
love it as they did. But now that I’ve finally read When You Reach Me,
I can say this: they were right. This is an amazing book. It deserves
every accolade it’s been given. I’m so glad that it has the shiny gold
circle on its cover, because the more people that read this funny,
sweet, original book, the better.
When You Reach Me
stars Miranda, a New York City native (circa 1978). Miranda lives with
her mom in an apartment on a street they share with a crazy man who
sleeps under a mailbox, a friendly shop owner who gives out free Vitamin
C, and a gang of intimidating but mostly harmless kids. (With this
last group Miranda follows her mom’s advice: “Don’t laugh, don’t take
off running…Do nothing. Act as if they’re invisible,” and it works
pretty well.) When not swiping office supplies from her job, Miranda’s
mom is training for her spot on The $20,000 Pyramid.
And when Miranda’s not assisting with her mom's game-show training,
she’s attending sixth grade, losing and making friends, working in a
deli (during her forty-five minute lunch break), and trying to track
down the person—possibly from the future—who’s leaving her mysterious
notes.
The
setting—or rather, Miranda’s description of the setting—is one of the
(many) awesome things about Rebecca Stead’s novel. Living in Alaska,
far away from the big city, I thoroughly enjoyed Miranda’s casual
mention of New York life, from the fact that most sixth-graders leave
school for lunch “unless something is going on and they won’t let us,
like the first week of school, when there was a man running down
Broadway stark naked” to “Mom’s Rules for Life in New York City”
(including gems such as “Look ahead. If there’s someone acting strange
down the block, looking drunk or dangerous, cross to the other side of
the street, but don’t be obvious about it. Make it look
like you were planning to cross the street all along.”) What’s more,
all the strange details play a part in the mystery at the center of When You Reach Me.
Every detail matters; it’s the kind of book that once you finish, you
want to go right back to the start, just to revel in Stead’s
craftsmanship.
When You Reach Me
is about time-travel and growing up and seeing the story behind a
stranger on the street. It’s about misunderstandings between friends
and grandiose scientific theories. One of my all-time favorite
books—Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time—plays a
starring role. And while Madeleine L’Engle, who won the Newbery in
1963, left some big shoes to fill, I think Rebecca Stead steps into
those shoes with grace. Shortly after Stead’s Newbery win was
announced, Stead said this about A Wrinkle in Time: "What
I love about L'Engle's book now is how it deals with so much fragile
inner-human stuff at the same time that it takes on life's big
questions.” Her description could easily be transferred to her own
award-winning novel. Her admiration for L’Engle pours into her own work, and that’s a great thing. Simply put: When You Reach Me is a delight.
[Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. New York: Yearling, 2009.]
