Sweet adventure factor: I would call When You Reach Me more of a journey to maturity than a true adventure, though there is a strong element of science fiction in it. But she’s honorable, and she comes out better than when she went in. She’s poor, from a single-parent home, and friendless. Miranda is a character I could cheer for. But the story is engaging, intricate and beautifully done. Therefore it doesn’t earn a Squeaky Award. We’re also given a page of evolution as a broad history for mankind. Unfortunately, the book contains two mild profanities and a few OMGs. The value of friendship is a major theme, even to the point of sacrifice. Miranda’s mom does swipe a lot of inconsequential items from work, but she also refuse to give her boyfriend a key to her place. (You need not read Wrinkle beforehand, but I’d recommend it–on its own strength as well as for background.)Ĭontent is pretty harmless. But just underneath the surface they are pulling tight, borrowing shades and colors from A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle, and weaving into something beautifully new. We’re given a homeless man, a bully who isn’t really a bully, and a few classmates that Miranda befriends when Sal is off doing his own thing, all separate threads.

Someone who wants her to record all of it.Įvery detail, every character, every event in this book is crucial to the outcome of the story.

Someone who knows things before they happen. Someone with a keen knowledge of her life. Suddenly, Sal no longer wants to walk to school with Miranda, and the first of four strange notes appear. Until the first day of the story she must write in a letter…to someone. Until the day Sal takes a punch to the stomach. Miranda and Sal are best friends, until the day they are not.

When you reach me chapter summary