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When you Reach me

Stead, Rebecca. Book - 2009 R Newbery Medal 2010, Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca 1 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4.6 out of 5

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Call Number: R Newbery Medal 2010, Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

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R Newbery Medal 2010 0-week checkout Library Use Only
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Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca 4-week checkout On Shelf
Downtown Kids Books
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Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca 4-week checkout Due 04-14-2024
Downtown Kids Books
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Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca 4-week checkout Due 03-19-2024
Downtown Kids Books
4-week checkout
Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca 4-week checkout Due 03-23-2024
Downtown Kids Books
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Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca 4-week checkout Due 04-08-2024
Downtown Kids Books
4-week checkout
Y Fiction / Stead, Rebecca 4-week checkout Due 04-05-2024

As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

When You Reach Me review submitted by upo8 on January 2, 2011, 11:20am When You Reach Me is a breath taking book with good plot and a magical ending. Miranda is a adventurous girl who takes chances and tries to uncover who is sending her the notes. Rebecca Stead did a wonderful job telling the story and explaining the characters. I give this book 5 stars. Everyone should read this book it is just so beautiful I would read it again and again!

Wonderful tale submitted by evelyn on June 27, 2011, 6:31pm This is a beautiful book best suited for slightly older readers. The plot is wonderful and encourages good values of trust, love, friendship and forgiveness. The science is a little complicated but will hold onto older children's attention.

LOVE THIS submitted by Sara W on June 27, 2011, 9:26pm This Newbery award-winning youth book was a knockout that completely won me over. It’s only at the end that you realize you’ve been reading a puzzle and have been gradually picking up the pieces the whole time. You'll want to read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle afterwards. Give into that impulse - it just makes them both better.

Great submitted by marisal on July 5, 2011, 9:13pm I really liked this book and recomend it for all.

Amazing! submitted by battlem on July 8, 2011, 10:25am This book is an amazingly constructed work that carefully crafts what appears to be a simple story about a group of students in late 1970's New York City. Each detail and moment is essential as the tale is woven to its conclusion. That Newbery Committee sure knew what they were doing when they awarded this book the 2010 Newbery Medal! :-)

Great Bookclub or Literature Class Book submitted by Cherrytreelane on August 11, 2011, 12:36am Very well written book with many twists that unfurl and take some thinking about (or even discussion) to really understand. Fun, easy read, highly recommended!

Lovable Book submitted by TripleH123 on August 26, 2011, 9:16pm This is a lovable book that is very exciting!!! Great book!

Great book! submitted by orcomai on June 16, 2012, 6:30am This book really makes you want to keep reading. It is a great book for 10 to 13 year old readers.

Great!! submitted by gxl on July 15, 2012, 7:41pm This is a great book! I really loved it! Totally recommend it!!

Excellent choice for the Newbery submitted by klickitat on August 6, 2012, 9:22am Undoubtedly a large part of why When You Reach Me is such a critical darling is the sheer spectacle of what Stead achieved. WYRM's plot is so intricate it would make a Rolex blush, and yet it's never tedious or confusing and, in the end, all is clear. (So I guess it is possible, eh LOST?) As long as the reader is willing to pay attention and play along, they are assured of reaching a satisfying conclusion.

Stead is a master of dropping important details casually into the narrative without belaboring her point. Events' chronology and the passage of time are crucial to WYRM's plot. But, instead of talking down to her audience by reminding us that this is two months before blahdittyblah happened, Stead uses her characters' actions and behaviors to orient the reader in time. For example, in a particular scene we're told a girl is wearing an unseasonably warm coat for November, which at first seems irrelevant, until, click, we realize we've been handed another piece of the puzzle. Time and time again I marveled at how deft Stead was at imparting critical information without the annoying sense that trumpets are sounding and spotlights are shining because what you just read was important. Instead readers will absorb the important details without even realizing they're doing so. WYRM is a great introduction to skilled writing for young readers (and a refresher for us older folks.)

I want to mention just how much I love the characters in this book. Even though I figured out the "twist" well before the end, the characters and pure joy of the story never allowed my interest to wane. It's not often I want to hug most every character in a novel. I did here. I blame the lovely little character details for my sudden "Kumbaya" impulses. It was wonderful to discover a rich character piece in the midst of what could have been purely a science-fiction story. I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised since WYRM is a loving tribute to A Wrinkle in Time, a book that features one of my all time favorite character quirks: a father who writes equations on the dining room tablecloth.

However, within the strong cast, Marcus was the one false note for me. I never felt I understood him beyond the boy-genius persona. Maybe if/when I re-read I'll change my mind but he's the only character I wouldn't quite recognize if he passed me on the street (prophetic metaphor intentional?) Considering his importance I was disappointed that he never quite came alive in the same way as the other characters. I can't help but wonder if knowing him better might have made the ending even more satisfying.

This was an excellent choice for the Newbery. Three cheers!

The Best Newberry winner submitted by wendylv on August 31, 2012, 6:51am This is a book I could read again and again and it's a wonderful read-a-loud for parents and kids. My 12 yr old son was reluctant to start it so we read the first two chapters as a read-a-loud and he was hooked. He finished it on his own in 3 days. My 10 yr old daughter read it on her own but I think the plot intricacies lost her and she didn't enjoy it as much. It would have been better to read together. I loved the "Wrinkle In Time" connection, the $20,000 Pyramid references, and the NYC 1970's setting. The idea that everyone walks around with a veil over their eyes and occasionally we have moments where the veil is lifted and we clearly see the "magic thread" connecting all the pieces in our lives is a truly beautiful one.

Great! submitted by philiptv on July 16, 2013, 12:11pm Such a great book. Sort of sad but I loved it. I highly recommend it.

Awesome submitted by Motomori on August 18, 2013, 11:33am I've read this before and it was such a great book! It was very exciting and heart warming and at the end is a confusing but surprising twist! I would recommend this for anyone going into their tween and early teen years (10-14)!

me submitted by nicenora2371 on August 30, 2013, 10:20pm looks nice

Amazing read! submitted by surferbill on February 10, 2014, 9:59am I read this and it immediately went to the top of my list of bedtime reading for my seven year old. She was hooked by the real feel of the mystery, friendship, and mother-daughter relationship. We are having a blast reading it together, and it has brought on tough but important conversations on race, kindness and the sometimes bizarre way big kids act. Loved it!

Dislike submitted by bingaevanston on June 15, 2014, 12:25pm I did not like this book because it sort of didn't make sense and it was soooooo sad

awsome submitted by sfonte on June 23, 2014, 3:31pm This book is goooooooooooooooooooooood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

When You Reach Me submitted by SBNB on June 26, 2014, 12:21pm This is a great book. It took a couple chapters to get into it, but once I did, I couldn't put it down.

Fun! submitted by maforbes on June 19, 2017, 8:44am I think it was a great book and it showed very good different points of view. It was awesome.

Can't predict it---great mystery submitted by rmsuggs on July 26, 2018, 9:52am A greedy consumer of stories since forever, I rarely find a book whose plot line is not somewhat predictable. This book completely overthrew all my expectations. An excellent story.

interesting submitted by SadieRose on July 6, 2019, 11:37pm I recommend this for teens.

Good book submitted by jasonc1177 on July 31, 2019, 7:51pm this book is great
!@#$¥%……

Unexpected submitted by katelyndroppers on August 21, 2019, 8:16pm This book was a surprise. I started reading it with no idea what to expect...all I know is that I didn't expect what I read. Most of the plot was realistic: a realistic 6th grader living in 1978 New York with friend drama and a mom who is picked to compete in a game show. What I didn't expect was the time travel!

When You Reach Me submitted by EuniceWe on July 28, 2020, 9:28am Wow this was defiantly unexpected. Rebecca Stead took a character and made it look like the character was writing the story in her journal. The twists and turns of each surprise, defiantly surprised me. She wrote it very clearly, and the feelings, the tough times, and the friendship problems that were unsolved that the character had to go through defiantly made me feel like the character. Great book overall, and you should defiantly read it!

fantastic submitted by maureenannarbor on July 7, 2021, 5:15pm this book was so goo

Surprisingly great. submitted by graytabby on August 2, 2021, 7:49am At first, I didn't want to read When You Reach Me, but this book was phenomenal. The characters, the plot... I would've liked to have seen some more development in Marcus, but what a great read.

Amazing book submitted by Alice V.V. on June 12, 2022, 9:02pm When I first started reading this book I knew I would like it. The character development is amazing and I love how relatable this book is

Amazing submitted by annathel on July 26, 2023, 9:07am I remember that this was my favorite book as a kid

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SERIES
Newbery Medal book - 2010.



PUBLISHED
New York : Wendy Lamb Books, c2009.
Year Published: 2009
Description: 199 p. ; 22 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book

READING LEVEL
Lexile: 750

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780385906647
9780375850868
0385737424

SUBJECTS
Space and time -- Fiction.
New York (N.Y.) -- History -- 1951- -- Fiction.