National Book Festival and When You Reach Me

I haven't blogged in a while, but I have continued reading. And I have also continued my deviations from the original list...

In September, I had the privilege of attending the National Book Festival in Washington DC. For Citizen Schools, I have been teaching a Story Time apprenticeship and thus I've been working closely with the Henderson Youth Services librarian. I told her that A Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorite books. She said if I liked that book then I should try When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. The book did not disappoint.

When You Reach Me centers around Miranda, a young girl living in New York whose life drastically changes when her best friend Sal gets punched by a kid they don't know. She gets mysterious messages from someone who talks of saving people's lives and talks about things that don't make sense until they actually happen. A Wrinkle in Time is a favorite book among several of the characters and the concepts of time and space proposed by A Wrinkle in Time feed heavily into the book's events.

What I really appreciated about When You Reach Me was not just a nod to one of my childhood favorites, but the deeper themes that run through it. So much in Miranda's interactions with other people changes. And what the reader and Miranda realize is that these changes were necessary and made things better. For me personally, I have a hard time with changing relationships. Even reflecting on this book now, I know I still am not in a place where I handle changing relationships well. It makes me a little sad that this little girl is able to do so, but at the same time, it gives me hope that I can one day do the same.

At the National Book Festival, I had the privilege of meeting Rebecca Stead and getting her to sign my copy. It may be really geeky to say this, but it was an awesome experience to get to tell her that I appreciated how she used A Wrinkle in Time. Madeline L'Engle's book was a huge part of my childhood that just really inspired my love for reading and made me want to be more adventurous, caring and virtuous. I never imagined that modern books that pondered on my childhood favorites would inspire me as an adult, but I am happy to say I was wrong. And being able to share that with an author who is living (since I can't really share it with Madeline L'Engle) was truly fantastic. I strongly encourage all book lovers visit either the National Book Festival or their local ones.