Although I've loved most of my experiences with Newbery novels, reading too many of them close together can make them all start to blend together. Because so many of them are a coming of age story, focusing on a young or boy learning to deal with whatever hardships life has dealt them, some of the details begin to merge together creating a giant Newbery read instead of the individual books.
Although some stories have a tendencies to run together, there are some which are a such a w original idea, completely unique unto themselves that they demand that you remember them individually. When You Reach Me by Re Stead is one such story.
This book is brilliant. I might repeat that again, because I can't think of a better word to describe the story (unless I'm just going to stick with basically amazing.) I can't imagine the flow charts, timelines and diagrams Stead must have used to create this book. Everything within the story is connected, but nothing feels contrived. Too many times in stories where plot lines overlap and characters connect in unexpected ways, the coincidences become too much and too unrealistic for the necessary suspension of disbelief, and it lessens the enjoyment of the story, because I can't believe any of that would actually happen. When You Reach Me offers no such feeling. It is simply an 11 year old girl trying to come to terms with a life changing experience.
Miranda (Mira) is our main character and her voice is strong. Throughout the book, Mira is struggling to determine her place in a world that is suddenly different from what she had always known her world to be. Her best (and only) friend no longer wants anything to do with her, there is a 'crazy-shaped person' living on their corner who sleeps with his head under the mailbox, and (the most disconcerting and unsettling of all) she begins finding letters within her things, asking for assistance from an unknown, unnamed source who seems to know things before they happen. Mira's mind is practical and she finds it very difficult to accept many of these new changes. I love that we are able to watch and listen as Miranda's mind broadens as she learns to accept the changes within her life.
One of the complaints I had with this book the first time I read it was the desire to know more about some of the periphery characters. While that is still true to a degree, after the second read through I decided Stead's way was better, especially with Marcus. I believe Marcus is one of my new favorite literary characters. He is just so individual and he lives by such a different set of rules without ever really acknowledging that his way is any different, any more right or wrong, than anyone else's. Although I would love to know more about Marcus and the other great characters in Stead's novel, it is a selfish desire to know everything about everything, not something her novel is actually missing.
I refuse to go into too many details here, because this is one book that it would be a shame to spoil. Knowing too much about this book the first time you read it ruins some of its magic. There is so much depth to this story, so much wonder and it is definitely one you must discover on your own. I believe that the brilliance of this story comes from its simple comp ties. Those are what make it such a magnificent first time read, but allows you to enjoy the story more each time you read it. The story is simple enough to appeal to the younger audience it was written for while also being complex enough to not only appeal to s and the older children, but also complex enough to withstand multiple readings. I re-read this book just the other day, about two months after my first read through, and I found myself noticing much that I missed the first time through, and enjoying it just that much more.
This book was nothing short of fantastic and managed to hit upon the perfect degree of interest. It left me wanting more of the story and more of the characters, but what I was given filled all the empty places. It was everything it needed to be.