When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

A Blast From the Past

I read When You Reach Me four times when I was in fifth and sixth grade. The first time I had heard of it was when it was on the reading list for a summer book club I was in with my friends. I checked it out from the Appleton Public Library and was so obsessed I later bought a hardcover copy and the eBook for my Nook. This book was one of the first - and still one of the only - books that I've gotten so engrossed in I've been able to read the whole story in a matter of days. I can't remember exactly the reason why I loved this book so much; maybe it was because the main character, Miranda, was so relatable, or because somehow the whole story was leading up to and hinting at a major plot twist at the end but when the twist was finally revealed, it still managed to shock my socks off.

I hadn't cracked my hardcover copy open since I was eleven but after reading A Wrinkle in Time, which is referenced all throughout the entire story in When You Reach Me as Miranda's favorite book, and as a very important part of the plot, I decided to read it again.

It was a quite a sad moment when I finished When You Reach Me and realized "Wow, this book used to be a lot better." I already knew what was going to happen in the end and who was going to die and who was becoming friends again. That hadn't negatively affected my reading experience in the past and it still didn't this time around. What was so different was the word choice, the plot, and the characters. The twelve-year-old characters weren't as relatable as they used to be and the plot twist wasn't as massive to 16-year-old me as it was to 11-year-old me.

Obviously the story hasn't changed, but I have.