WHEN YOU REACH ME

By: Rebecca Steed

Image Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f8/When_you_reach_me.jpg/200px-When_you_reach_me.jpg 

1. Bibliography

Stead, Rebecca. WHEN YOU REACH ME. New York: Wendy Lamb, 2009. Print. ISBN: 9780375850868

2. Plot Summary
WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead is a science fiction story set in 1970s. Miranda is a sixth grade girl who is the receiver of several mystery notes. The writer of these mysterious letters tell her that they are trying to protect her friend. Thoughout this time Miranda is going through various changes including her mother training for $20,000 Pyramid game show and a close friend who will no longer speaks to her. Miranda learns many things along the way including the identity of the mystery writer.

3. Critical Analysis
Stead begins the book by Miranda telling us that she still needs to write the mystery person a letter. Then the story moves to the past tense of Miranda writing the letter to the mystery writer.  Stead makes it difficult to follow along with the time frame of this book.  The plot seems to move to the past, present, future tense and the reader is left feeling they need a calendar to keep up with the dates.

Miranda is faced with many issues that young people are faced with including the lose of friendships and the challenges of making new friends. "Sometimes you never feel meaner than the moment you stop being mean. It's like how turning on a light makes you realize how dark the room had gotten. And the way you usually act, the things you would have normally done, are like these ghosts that everyone can see but pretends not to." Miranda also learns that her biggest enemy, Julia and her have many things in common.

The setting of this book is the Upper West Side of New York City.  Through the details we learn that Miranda lives in an apartment building and walks to school each day.  She also makes frequent stops at a local shop owned by a family friend.

The chapter titles are categories that could be on the $20,000 Pyramid game show.  This is a reminder to the reader that Miranda's mom is training to be on the game show.  Another interesting character in the book is "the laughing man."  We have no idea who this person is and what relation he has to the story until the end of the book.  We learn that "the laughing man" is Marcus who used time travel to save Miranda's friend Sal.


4. Review Excerpts:
~2010 Newbery Award

~SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL 2009 "This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers."

~BOOKLIST 2009 "The ’70s New York setting is an honest reverberation of the era; 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."

5. Connections:
~Students could play the game $20,000 Pyramid
~Students could write about a time they would like to time travel to

Other books by Rebecca Stead:
FIRST LIGHT
LIAR & SPY