Module 4--When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead



Source: http://perpuskecil.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/when-you-reach-me

Summary: 

Miranda's friend Sal stops talking to her one day. Over the course of time, Miranda makes new friends that include Marcus, a boy that punched Sal. Miranda starts getting letters that seem to know more about her and her life than she can explain--including her future.  Miranda continues to make friends and keeps the letters secret.  In the end, she has reunited with Sal after realizing the letters were possible because of Marcus' time travel, all done to save Sal's life during an unfortunate accident when Sal runs in front of a car to avoid a bully.

APA Reference: 

Stead, R. (2009). When you reach me.  New York, NY: Random House Children's Books.

My Impressions:

I was bored overall.  I liked some details, such as the mother's incessant preparation to win on the game show $25,000 Pyramid and the climactic chapter written almost entirely in list format.  Still, I thought the plot was slow moving and a lot of the other details never added up to anything important or took a long time to become important. If selection was only based on my taste, I would not select this book to add to a library collection, however it would ultimately depend on how well children would like it.  I noticed, through class discussions, that my classmates that read it seemed to enjoy the book, so I may have the minority opinion. 
Professional Reviews: 

Narrator Holloway does an excellent job of inhabiting main character Miranda, a Wrinkle in Time–loving New Yorker sixth grader, as she deals with changing friendships, the challenges of her late-1970s Upper West Side neighborhood . . . and a succession of anonymous notes that seem to be a matter of life and death and,

incredibly, time travel. The narrator’s overly exaggerated voicing of Miranda’s mom (who comes across so naturally in the print book) is jarring. Otherwise, however, Holloway’s intimate tone emphasizes the novel’s interpersonal aspects, helping to ground the extraordinary plot. An additional plus of the audio version is that the clever chapter titles are given more prominence—they’re easy to skip over in print, but they’re well worth noticing, adding depth and further tying together the many ingeniously interwoven elements of this memorable book.

P., M.V.  (2009). [Review of the audio book When you reach me, by R. Stead]. Horn Book Magazine, 85(6), 703-704. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com

Miranda experiences a lot in sixth grade. She loses her best friend, her mom goes on a game show, he learns there is a dentist's office inside her school and she enjoys her first job. Stead has written a story about a typical 12-year-o!d girl; although, it is set in the I9S()s and there is some compelling mystery that the reader is hard-pressed to discover. The best parts of the story, though, are the characters. There is Miranda herself who is thoughtful and smart, but she doesn't think much of it. Marcus is a troubled boy but no one really seems to know him. There are best friends Julia and Annemarie, but their friendship is put to a serious test when Julia acts snobby once too often. And, there is the mysterious writer of the notes that Miranda keeps finding. This well-written book is executed to keep readers engaged until the very end. The author's style is appealing because of her character development and clever plot vehicles. The topics are interesting and the short chapters keep the pace flowing quickly. Recommended.

Glantz, S. (2009). [Review of the book When you reach me, by R. Stead]. Library Media Connection, 28(2), 74.  Retrieved from http://www.librarymediaconnection.com

Library Uses:
Before I was Born:  Introduce simple internet research skills by having students research the music, television shows, celebrities and fads that were popular in 1979 when Miranda was in sixth grade.  This research could be done even if students have not read the book as a way to raise circulation statistics for the book.