I just finished reading When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. It won the Newbery award this year, so I figured it would be worth reading.
I found the book rather disappointing. In the last few pages, all of the bizarre and confusing things that happened through the book are all explained, and everything falls in place but the fact is that until that moment, the book is hard work to get through. I think it's unlikely that my kids, anyway, would persist through to that Ahah! moment, and so would dismiss the book with their usual designation of "boring."
Added to that, the book relies heavily on the reader being familiar with "A Wrinkle in Time", a book which (yes, I know, it's heresy) I can't stand. So, if you're familiar with Wrinkle, and if you liked it, perhaps this will resonate with you. But it really didn't work much for me.
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5 comments:
Actually, Rich, I can't stand "Wrinkle in Time" either (review to come soon).
May I ask you to please use the existing When You Reach Me label for your post, rather than the one with quotes and in lower case? It makes it easier for readers of this blog to find all the reviews of the same book. Thanks!
Oh, but even though I disliked Wrinkle, I loved this book.
I'll fix the labels. :-)
I felt the same way. Bought it, it's gone out a couple times, but no one here is raving about it.
I loved this book and I recommend it to EVERYONE. Of course my 13 year old has no interest because if Mom likes it, it can't possibly be cool. But I hope she'll read it eventually and love it as much as I do.
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