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When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is a very interesting story. Let us know what you think.

SPOILER ALERT! I just finished When You Reach Me last night and I have to at least skim it again. I loved so many things about it but there are a few things that bother me. The crucial part of the plot (Marcus punching Sal) is revealed to be meaningless in two ways. It had nothing to do with Sal not wanting to be friends with the protagonist anymore, which she was convinced of. (He wanted guy friends, so he stopped speaking to her?) Markus punched Sal just because his brother thought he should have some fighting experience. I could buy Markus' explanation, but not Sal's. And It just seemed like there was a lot of somewhat weak justifications for things at virtually the same time we got the ultimate justification for everything else (the crazy man, time traveling notes, etc.) I'm anxious to see what my students will think of it, either too confusing or perhaps what bothers me won't bother them. I loved the writing, the characters, and most of the plot structure, so maybe an Honor, but it's not my first choice for Newbery 2010.

I just finished reading When You Reach Me to a class of fifth grade boys. They hung on every word and tried to figure out the clues as the story went on. We had quite a lively discussion of the story throughout, but Friday when I finished it, they just talked and talked. We will be reading A Wrinkle in Time this spring as a class and they can't wait. I will bring up some of your points this week in class and see if they are bothered by Sal's experience. The boys were intrigued with the notion of time travel and not the least bit confused with the story line. They also loved the references to the game show, and liked the chapter titles referring to catagories on the game show. They also cheered Mira's mom on as she prepared for the show and her ultimate win. Great book.

Kathleen wrote: "I just finished reading When You Reach Me to a class of fifth grade boys. They hung on every word and tried to figure out the clues as the story went on. We had quite a lively discussion of the s..."

Thank you so much for your feedback! I'm actually hoping that my concerns are just quibbles - maybe I read it too quickly! I'm glad your students liked it so much and I'll be fascinated to hear them probably pooh-pooh my criticisms. And how did I miss that the chapter titles were categories on the show? It IS a great book.

The chapter headings were fun.

What did you guys think about Miranda's relationship with Julia? I think kids will be able to relate to their situation. Even as adults we sometimes judge people before really knowing them.

I really loved this book until about the last 25 pages. I was really hoping for a more logical answer. I just did n't think the author set up the story for a fantasy ending. My other problem was that the mother's story was abruptly stopped in the middle of the book and then quickly resolved at the end.

Dana wrote: "I really loved this book until about the last 25 pages. I was really hoping for a more logical answer. I just did n't think the author set up the story for a fantasy ending. My other problem was..."

I was prepared for a fantasy ending, what with the time travel discussions and that time travel could be the only explanation for the house key/note conundrum. However, I agree that certain resolutions weren't that logical (see above) and that the pacing was odd. The mother's story did seem too quickly resolved. Just about everything seemed too quickly resolved! Yet it was so much fun...

This is my top choice for Newbery so far. I enjoyed everything. I thought it was beautifully written and the sci/fi angle gives it that crossover appeal for boys. I totally believe in Sal's answer. I have 8 brothers and believe me, they would do that. They do not ever want to appear un-macho (is that a word? :]).

If you get a chance, listen to the NPR Story Corps on the boy not wanting his friends to see him with a book and how he stole them so and hid them. Powerful.

I wish more teachers at our middle school did read alouds. I definitely think this would be one they would be interested in.

When You Reach Me is definitely my top choice this year, and it's the first year in several years where I personally think there is a choice that is head and shoulders above the crowd. I thought this was such a sweet story that was both straightforward in terms of plot and yet fairly complex in terms of the themes and ideas it explores. It was the kind of book that I started reading again immediately after I finished it.

The one question I keep thinking about is what Miranda's relationship with the other kids is like as they get older, and become adults. We know from the book that Marcus, Julia, and Annemarie stayed friends. But how strange for Miranda to already know what happens to Marcus, and for Marcus to know that Miranda knows. That's got to be a weird relationship to navigate.

The other thing that's funny is that I don't agree with Marcus's assessment of the problem with A Wrinkle in Time at all! I always read that book thinking that the kids did indeed return five minutes before, but the first time around they are so caught up in what is about to happen that they don't even notice. I pictured Meg and Calvin sitting on the wall facing away from the house, and that the yard is fairly big, and they don't even notice when Charles Wallace comes out until he is right there practically on top of them, so it made perfect sense to me that they weren't aware of their return happening behind them in the garden. And of course, they are so excited to be home that it doesn't occur to them to look for themselves about to depart (that will make no sense to anyone who hasn't read A Wrinkle In Time!). But then again, I was one of those kids who read it and thought that the Murray's big New England farmhouse was something like Tara, I suppose.

I knew very little about this book before starting it and I think that's the best way to approach it. It is a well written, well crafted, creative, funny, and beautiful story. One that I will be thinking about for awhile. I think it definitely has Newbery potential.

I also want to thank Kathleen for her feedback about reading it to 5th graders. I read this book about a month or more ago and was wondering if it would be as powerful a read for kids as it was for me. I thought the voice seemed fresh and very creative. The quirkiness of the time travel explanation was ok with me and I hope it will be with kid readers.

The boys totally accepted the time travel element and in answer to someone's question about the plausibility of Sal's getting punched and ending his friendship with Miranda, the boys did not think that strange, especially when later in the story he explained that had she noticed, the signs were all there earlier. He just needed to branch out and try out new friends for a while. Right now my Newbery Club is reading it and I'll let you all know how they like it and their thoughts in about a week.

Kathleen wrote: "The boys totally accepted the time travel element and in answer to someone's question about the plausibility of Sal's getting punched and ending his friendship with Miranda, the boys did not think ..."

I would love to hear what they think about it. Keep us posted.

I have really enjoyed everyones insight on this book. Elizabeth really got me thinking about all the time stuff. It's all interesting.

I just finished When You Reach Me and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I agree with some of the other criticisms of the book (the mother's $20,000 pyramid story, the kind of abrupt ending), but I have to say, those things didn't bother me, for some reason, as much as they usually do. I think at the end I was so satisfied to finally have the pieces put together it was okay that it went really quickly. I especially enjoyed the relationships in the story. I felt they were pretty realistic - even the Sal relationship. It made sense to me that Miranda would focus on the punch as being the catalyst for why Sal is no longer talking to her, even though all along he had been trying to give her subtle hints that she'd just been missing. I also really appreciate that Julia wasn't as evil as Miranda had made her out to be - as is usually the case in life. Overall I found this book really satisfying, and I like that it could have been just another coming of age story, but it had this whole mysterious time travel twist to it. I'm not sure it's Newbery worthy (because of some of the plot weaknesses), but I wouldn't be disappointed if it did win. I'm thrilled to hear it was used with 5th grade boys and that they loved it!

As promised we discussed the book When You Reach Me in our Newbery Club. The discussion was positive and they thought it met many of the criteria for a Newbery winner. Our discussion of course included time travel and how strange it must be for Marcus to know he is the laughing man. We discussed Sal and Miranda's friendship and they felt it was quite normal for Sal to want to branch out. In short they really enjoyed the book and have high hopes for it. So far it ranks their number one book of the books we've read.

When I took Kid Lit in college (many years ago)when you had to read over 100 books, I remember that A Wrinkle in Time was my favorite of all the chapter books I read. I find that today's kids still enjoy reading book - only now there is a series to read.