When You Reach Me

Miranda Sinclair is a latchkey kid who lives with her single mom on the Upper West Side of New York City in the late 1970s. I love the way Miranda navigates her dirty, dangerous, yet enchanting city – her street smarts, her fears, her relationships with the adults in the neighborhood who keep a watchful eye over her. And the book, while totally gritty and real, also has a lovely, melancholy element of magical realism that makes the story mysterious and poignant. 

AKA a book I wish I’d written except I’d never have come up with this plot twist. 

Contemporary fiction and mysteries may be my go-to genres but, please, give me more genre-busting stories like When You Reach Me. Not only does it combine friendships and friend issues, science fiction, historical fiction, and mystery but there’s also a game show element. Oh, and puzzling notes: strange instructions the main character must follow in order to prevent a tragic death. I’m there for every word. Full disclosure: I was on a message board with the author while she was writing this.… show more.

Time-travel mystery? Yes, please! Miranda has been receiving letters from a stranger, who knows the future. When her mother is invited to participate in the $20,000 Dollar Pyramid, Miranda can no longer ignore the fact that her secret correspondent does in fact know the future. When You Reach Me takes place in New York during 1978 and 1979 and follows the ‘ordinary sixth-grader’ as she races against time to possibly prevent a death she has been warned about by the mysterious letter-writer. 

Count me among the zillions of people who loved When You Reach Me, winner of the Newbery Medal in 2010. I’ve seen more than one person describe it as a modern-day A Wrinkle in Time—a book that figures heavily in Stead’s plot. But When You Reach Me resonates with me far more than L’Engle’s classic. There is something about the sad, enigmatic way this is constructed with multiple storylines that just stick with you. It’s got time travel but it’s not sci-fi; it’s got puzzles but it’s not a mystery exactly. It’s just a weird, lovely book about the… show more.

This sweet story is more of a subtle mystery, with puzzles and clues that seem unrelated but come together for a surprising, even bittersweet, end. I love quiet contemporary stories that hint of mystery but also tug at my heart, that make impossible things in a regular world seem possible. This might be the best combination of mystery, puzzles, and character development for middle grade that I’ve ever read.

12-year-old Miranda receives notes from an inscrutable person from the future trying to save one of her friends. This is both a beautifully written time travel mystery and a starkly realistic novel set in 1979 New York City, tackling topics as diverse as prison reform, single mothers, and racism.

That the story can be both things, seamlessly and without contradiction, makes the novel an elegant example of magical realism.

Miranda Sinclair is confused by the odd words the “Laughing Man” — a homeless man who lives on her street corner — always repeats when he sees her. Then she starts receiving mysterious notes that seem to predict the future, notes Miranda learns have come from the Laughing Man.

This book knocked my socks off! Set in the late seventies, it reminded me of my childhood days, right down to the book Miranda always has with her, A Wrinkle in Time (which I read for a book report in fifth grade.) When You Reach Me is undefinable. Part mystery, part… show more.

Another Newbery favorite of mine, When You Reach Me uses time travel as a side plot. The main character, a sixth-grader named Miranda, begins noticing strange things, including several mysterious notes left in her backpack. What really makes this book stand out is how it captures the main character’s insecurities of growing up in a tiny apartment with her single mother. I could relate to Miranda’s struggles because my family was also poor when I was growing up, and I was always in awe when I visited my friends’ enormous houses for sleepovers. The book deftly explores class, race, and… show more.

I loved When You Reach Me because it touched on what being a tween was for me. I was proud of the independence associated with being a latch key kid but I wasn’t totally comfortable with it either. There was always a foreboding sense of danger roaming the city streets alone after school. So many children are left to their own devices after school because parents work and in the case of the protagonist of When You Reach Me, being an only child of a single parent accentuated it all. I tend to love books about friendships and imagination… show more.

Without spoiling anything, let’s just say that there’s a surprise twist in this book that completely caught me off guard—and, as a mystery writer myself, I usually catch onto these things so it’s hard to surprise me! The story seems pretty ordinary at first. Miranda is a sixth-grader in the 1970s, and her mom is slated to be a contestant on a game show. While Miranda helps her mom prep for her appearance, mysterious notes that seem to predict the future start appearing. To make matters worse, her best friend dumps her, and her hidden apartment key is stolen. Miranda… show more.