When+You+Reach+Me

2010 Newbery Winner
Stead, R. (2009). //When you reach me.// New York, NY: Yearling.


 * Summary:** When Miranda begins receiving notes from an unknown source asking her to write down certain events, she does know what to think. As the story unravels, Miranda meets Marcus after he punches her friend Sal. Miranda and Marcus bond over their mutual belief and questioning of time travel. The story continues with Miranda trying to figure out the meaning of the messages.


 * Grade Level:** 4.5
 * Reading Level:** 4-7

4.1.1 Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth 4.1.2 Read widely and fluently to make connections with self, the world, and previous reading 4.1.7 Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information 4.1.8 Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning 4.4.1. Identify own areas of interest 4.4.6 Evaluate own ability to select resources that are engaging and appropriate for personal interests and needs
 * Standards for the 21st Century Learner:**
 * 4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth**

Twelve-year-old Miranda, a latchkey kid whose single mother is a law school dropout, narrates this complex novel, a work of science fiction grounded in the nitty-gritty of Manhattan life in the late 1970s. Miranda’s story is set in motion by the appearance of cryptic notes that suggest that someone is watching her and that they know things about her life that have not yet happened. She’s especially freaked out by one that reads: “I’m coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.” Over the course of her sixth-grade year, Miranda details three distinct plot threads: her mother’s upcoming appearance on The $20,000 Pyramid; the sudden rupture of Miranda’s lifelong friendship with neighbor Sal; and the unsettling appearance of a deranged homeless person dubbed “the laughing man.” Eventually and improbably, these strands converge to form a thought-provoking whole. Stead (First Light) accomplishes this by making every detail count, including Miranda’s name, her hobby of knot tying and her favorite book, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. It’s easy to imagine 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 Review 2009: (from Mackin)**