From Goodreads,"Winner of the 2010 Newbery Medal. Miranda is an ordinary sixth grader, until she starts receiving mysterious messages from somebody who knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late. For ages approx 9-14.
Four mysterious letters change Miranda's world forever.
By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.
But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper:
I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.
The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late."
Goodreads - When You Reach Me
Awards and Nominations:
- Andre Norton Award Nominee (2009)
- Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2009)
- Newbery Medal (2010)
- IRA Children's and Young Adult's Book Award for Young Adult-Fiction (2010)
- Indies Choice Book Award for Middle Reader (2010)
- Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry (2010)
- Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2011)
I always read the summary/review of a book before I start reading it. I know I shouldn't do this because it sets a tone before I ever start the book, but it is also good to have some kind of idea of what I'm getting myself into. When I read through the Goodreads review for this book my first thought was that this sounded a LOT like the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This gave me mixed feelings because I didn't really care for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close when I read it, and I had to hope that When You Reach Me wouldn't disappoint.
When You Reach Me is told by Miranda who is in the sixth grade. She knows that she has her Mom and Richard, her best friend Sal, the lunatic on the street corner, and her favorite book. All of these things are consistent and always there. But one day Sal gets punched by a boy named Marcus and Sal decides that he doesn't want to be friends with Miranda. This flips her world upside down as she tries to make new friends. One day Miranda receives a mysterious note. Then another and another and another. There were 4 in total that explained they were just trying to save her friend's life and his own. Miranda must work to figure out who is leaving the notes and what it all means.
This entire book is a mystery and I was absolutely there for it. The entire time I was reading the book I was wondering who was sending the notes and why. I did feel like it was someone we were introduced to early in the book, and sure enough it was. Once I figured out who it was and what was happening I gave a loud audible gasp in shock. I think that some my fourth graders would enjoy this book since there is the entire element of mystery of who was sending the notes. I think that Stead did an excellent job at including lots of little hints sprinkled throughout the book, while also keeping an element of surprise until exactly the right moment.
There were two things I didn't like about this book. One was that it referenced the book A Wrinkle In Time which interestingly enough was a Newbery Medal book. The title of the book is never mentioned, but after a few references to the same book I did a little research and discovered the title of the book. It was frustrating that the title was never mentioned, but I figure it was due to copyright. I feel like I would have understood parts of the book better if I had read A Wrinkle In Time prior to reading When You Reach Me. That being said, there were discussions that took place between characters that concerned time travel. They talked about jumping forward and back in the future and the whole concept of it, and honestly it got a little confusing at times. I feel that those parts would be something that would push kids away from reading this book because I think kids would say it was "hard" to read or understand. There were some abstract concepts in this book and I would be weary about handing this to just any student.
Overall, this book was different that what I expected. It was a good solid mystery, but was a little confusing at times. I give this 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to some of my advanced readers, and as always recommend this to anyone reading the full list of Newbery Medal winners.
When You Reach Me is told by Miranda who is in the sixth grade. She knows that she has her Mom and Richard, her best friend Sal, the lunatic on the street corner, and her favorite book. All of these things are consistent and always there. But one day Sal gets punched by a boy named Marcus and Sal decides that he doesn't want to be friends with Miranda. This flips her world upside down as she tries to make new friends. One day Miranda receives a mysterious note. Then another and another and another. There were 4 in total that explained they were just trying to save her friend's life and his own. Miranda must work to figure out who is leaving the notes and what it all means.
This entire book is a mystery and I was absolutely there for it. The entire time I was reading the book I was wondering who was sending the notes and why. I did feel like it was someone we were introduced to early in the book, and sure enough it was. Once I figured out who it was and what was happening I gave a loud audible gasp in shock. I think that some my fourth graders would enjoy this book since there is the entire element of mystery of who was sending the notes. I think that Stead did an excellent job at including lots of little hints sprinkled throughout the book, while also keeping an element of surprise until exactly the right moment.
There were two things I didn't like about this book. One was that it referenced the book A Wrinkle In Time which interestingly enough was a Newbery Medal book. The title of the book is never mentioned, but after a few references to the same book I did a little research and discovered the title of the book. It was frustrating that the title was never mentioned, but I figure it was due to copyright. I feel like I would have understood parts of the book better if I had read A Wrinkle In Time prior to reading When You Reach Me. That being said, there were discussions that took place between characters that concerned time travel. They talked about jumping forward and back in the future and the whole concept of it, and honestly it got a little confusing at times. I feel that those parts would be something that would push kids away from reading this book because I think kids would say it was "hard" to read or understand. There were some abstract concepts in this book and I would be weary about handing this to just any student.
Overall, this book was different that what I expected. It was a good solid mystery, but was a little confusing at times. I give this 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to some of my advanced readers, and as always recommend this to anyone reading the full list of Newbery Medal winners.
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