When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is like reading a puzzle. All the pieces fit together at the end. It’s a delightful and emotional journey, and certainly addresses friendship and family and how none of us should be quick to judge another human being.
In its puzzle-aspect, it reminds me of Louis Sachar’s Holes, although my personal opinion is that Holes is one of the most perfectly constructed plots ever written, and the satisfaction at the end of that book is unmatchable, so I can’t make Rebecca Stead try to reach that standard.
My students who had read When You Reach Me told me that they LOVED it and couldn’t wait for me to read it.
I did love the book, but I didn’t love it as much as the rest of the media has, I guess. I think the pieces fit beautifully together, and the time travel, paralleled with Madeleine l’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time is wonderfully done. I love books where the main character is infatuated with another story. Readers read, so they are the ones who understand the interweaving of a story you read with your daily life. I’ve done that in both Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged and to some degree in Chasing AllieCat. Mine do not make as powerful–or important to the plot–a parallel as Stead’s book, but I loved the double piece (both books) of her time travel element.
When You Reach Me surprises us, but by the final revelation, I think we suspected who was who across time. That works in the story’s favor, because in the construct of this fantasy world of time travel, it makes the ending believable.
I can’t put my finger on why I am not raving about the book. I did like it very, very much. I guess it didn’t rip my heart out and replace it as happens in some of my favorite books. It’s well worth the read, however.
I’m reviewing Newbery winners as I read them. I have a list of Newbery books and books from South Africa to read while on Sabbatical. On my bucket list: to read every single Newbery winner since the award’s inception in 1922. 🙂
Subscribe To Rebecca'sNewsletter
Join the mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from Rebecca.
You have Successfully Subscribed!