WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead is a book about the wonderful, confusing, and heartbreaking complexities of childhood friendships.

This is the story of eleven-year-old Miranda.  It begins with her struggles to understand the reason why her best friend Sal doesn’t want to be around her anymore.  It is during this time that she receives mysterious notes that give her clues about future events.  It ties in really nicely to Miranda’s love of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time, which she reads again and again (Love this! It reminds me of how many times I’ve read Pride and Prejudice!).  Miranda gains a few more friends throughout the story and learns a lot about what it means to give or withhold kindness. I loved the setting of New York in 1979 because it reminded me of the time when I was eleven. I lived in Philadelphia back then and had to walk to and from school, passing someone very much like the Laughing Man and groups of boys who like nothing better that to tease girls.  The ending was heartwarming but tragic.  It will leave you reeling, and the heart of this story will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading the book.

What am I reading now?  HUSH HUSH by Becca Fitzgerald.

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