Friday, November 19, 2010

Fiction Friday: WHEN YOU REACH ME

You know a book is good when you can't put it down despite the million other things you should be doing.  Rebecca Stead's WHEN YOU REACH ME is un-put-down-able.  I tend to focus a great deal on YA these days but I loved 12-year-old Miranda's voice--so clear, so perfectly pre-teen.  Madeleine L'Engle's Newbery winning A WRINKLE IN TIME is woven artfully through Stead's (also Newbery winning) story that is at once a mystery, a musing on time travel, an impeccable rendering of  late1970s New York, and a reflection on the meaning of friendship.  Okay, I'll stop gushing.  Perhaps one of the reasons I was so impressed with this book is that Stead has crafted her second novel with such a steady (no pun intended) hand. As we know, I'm having a bit of stress with the whole next-book thing here so this, to me, is an epic accomplishment.  But, seriously, if you haven't yet, pick this one up.

3 comments:

Caroline Starr Rose said...

Stasia,
Thank you so much for your support. It means the world.

The strange thing is I left a message on this post several days ago. I must have clicked out before it went through.

I loved this book and ended up listening to the final pages (on CD) while my son was at piano lessons.

Sylvie said...

I really liked this book, partly for the story and writing, but also for the great references for those, like me, who grew up in that time period.

Stasia said...

Hi, Sly. I agree, the time period really resonated for me :)

And thanks for leaving a comment twice, Caroline. I am thinking of you often these days and hoping for the best for MAY B.

Stasia