If you received a cryptic note under your door that says, "I'm coming to save your friend's life, and my own," would you worry? Well, this is exactly what happens to 12 year old Miranda. Things get even weirder. Her best friend Sal gets punched by some random kid they don't know walking home from school and he stops talking to her. A mentally ill homeless man appears on their block- alternately raving at traffic and passersby, laughing at the sky, and sleeping under a set of apartment building mailboxes. "Backpack, pocket, shoe" he says to Miranda one day. More notes appear under her door with increasingly personal information about her that no one should know, but her. When the key her mother leaves outside of their apartment for emergencies disappears, Miranda starts to get scared. Armed with her tattered and carefully studied copy of Madeline L'Engle's
Wrinkle in Time, Miranda sets off to figure out exactly what's going on. If all of the strange occurrences and cryptic notes have anything in common, Miranda will figure it out. Set in New York City in the late 1970's, this story is part historical fiction, part fantasy, and part mystery. The story is well paced and character driven- their relationships are portrayed realistically. There is a fair share of middle school drama as friends grapple with the meaning of friendship between boys and girls, but it only enhances the protagonist's quest to figure out what all the notes are about and who they are from. This Newberry award winning book will appeal to a wide variety of readers- boys and girls alike.
Stead, Rebecca. (2009).
When You Reach Me. New York : Wendy Lamb Books. 199 pages. ISBN 978-0-37585-086-8.
Ages 9-12
Rating: Outstanding
Winner of the Newberry Award 2010
Winner of the Newberry Medal 2010
