YA Fantasy Novel

Cover art by Sophie Blackall

Image from www.rebeccasteadbooks.com

When You Reach Me 

by Rebecca Stead 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stead, Rebecca. 2009. WHEN YOU REACH ME. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780385737425

PLOT SUMMARY

“I start at the very beginning, when you first showed up in the fall, and I’m thinking about everything you did – the spot on the corner where you stood, your kicking practice, the way you muttered to yourself. ‘Book, bag, pocket, shoe.’ There was a reason for all of it.” 

 So begins the letter that Miranda is writing at the end of the book to a mysterious stranger whom she has already met. When You Reach Me tells the tale of Miranda, a twelve-year old latchkey kid who’s life is changing, and is about to get weird. Miranda believes that it all started when her best friend, Sal, gets punched by another boy and shortly thereafter, she begins receiving mysterious notes that told her of things that would happen in the future. Not only that, she is also instructed to write a letter about these notes and to include peculiar details about places and things around her. All this while she tries to help her mother practice for an upcoming appearance on “The $20,000 Pyramid” game show, an odd new stranger shows up in the neighborhood, and she gets a job with two other classmates at a local sandwich shop. The concept of time, and the possibility of time-travel, is slowly introduced in the novel, but manages to immediately pique the curiosity of the reader. Told as a narrative to someone, somewhere, sometime, Stead’s fantastic story of time travel in the midst of growing up is one that readers will want to re-read immediately.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

At its heart, When You Reach Me is an engaging story of a young girl dealing with recent and sometimes sudden changes in her life – her best friend has stopped talking to her, she begins expanding her social circle, she gets her first job, she starts to notice boys more – all of which middle school readers can recognize and identify. Yet, even as she continues receiving these mysterious notes, Miranda, as well as the reader, has doubts about the fantastic nature of it all. The setting, inspired largely by the author’s childhood, is rich in detail and her descriptions transport the reader to the streets of Miranda’s Manhattan neighborhood. The relative freedom that Miranda and her friends have to wander around by themselves speaks to a time when the children were not constantly supervised or connected to their parents as they are now. Stead, with a style that is easy and engaging, does an excellent job of telling a seemingly normal story while sprinkling nuggets of fantasy throughout, until its dramatic and gratifying ending. When you Reach Me is recommended for students in grades 5 and up. 

REVIEW EXCERPTS and AWARDS

"Keen readers will notice Stead toying with time from the start, as Miranda writes in the present about past events that will determine her future. … readers will circle back to the beginning and say, ‘Wow...cool.’” — Kirkus starred review, June 2009

"…the mental gymnastics required of readers are invigorating; and the characters, children and adults, are honest bits of humanity no matter in what place or time their souls rest. Just as Miranda rereads L’Engle, children will return to this." — Booklist starred review, June 2009

"It’s easy to imaging readers studying Miranda’s story as many times as she’s read L’Engle’s, and spending hours pondering the provocative questions it raises.” – Publisher’s Weekly starred review, June 2009

"Closing revelations are startling and satisfying, but quietly made, their reverberations giving plenty of impetus for the reader to go back to the beginning and catch what was missed." — The Horn Book Magazine starred review, July 2009

“This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers.” — School Library Journal starred review, July 2009

"Stead piles up clues on the way to a moment of intense drama, after which it is pretty much impossible to stop reading until the last page." — The New York Times, August 2009

• Winner of the Newbery Medal - 2010
• Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction – 2010
• New York Times Notable Book for Children – 2009
• School Library Journal Best Book of the Year – 2009
• Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book Of The Year - 2009
• Booklist Children’s Editors’ Choice - 2009
• IRA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Award for Young Adult Fiction - 2010
• Indies Choice Book Award for Middle Reader – 2010
• ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults – 2010
• ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book – 2010

CONNECTIONS

Just as Miranda’s class is building a model of Main Street, have students build a model or draw a detailed map of Miranda’s neighborhood.

Use this Teacher’s Guide from the publisher for questions and activities using the book. 

In a study of genres, discuss how this book can be classified as both historical fiction and fantasy.

Also read A Wrinkle in Time to see how the two books are connected, and how Miranda’s reading of that book affected her in When You Reach Me.

Play “The $20,000 Pyramid” game, or a version of it, using genre description words, a character’s traits, a character’s quotes, setting descriptions, or any number of story elements from the book. For example, for the character of Jimmy, a student can say, “sandwiches, $2 bills, boss, Fred Flintstone, etc.” Or, discuss the chapter titles and why the author chose them for that section.

Other books for children and young adults about time travel.

--Tempest by Julie Cross.

--A mutiny in time by James Dashner.

--The Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

--Beyonders series by Brandon Mull

--Time Travel Trio series by Jon Scieszka

--The Time-Traveling Fashionista series by Bianca Turetsky

Other young adult books by Rebecca Stead

--Liar and Spy (2012)

--First Light (2007)

Other Newbery Award and Honor Books

--Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, 1990

--The Giver by Lois Lowry, 1994

--Holes by Louis Sachar, 1999

--The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia McKissack, 2001

--Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm, 2006

Visit the author’s website or blog. 

Listen to an Audio Interview with author, Rebecca Stead