) accomplishes this by making every detail count, including Miranda’s name, her hobby of knot tying and her favorite book, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time the sudden rupture of Miranda’s lifelong friendship with neighbor Sal and the unsettling appearance of a deranged homeless person dubbed “the laughing man.” Eventually and improbably, these strands converge to form a thought-provoking whole. She’s especially freaked out by one that reads: “I’m coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.” Over the course of her sixth-grade year, Miranda details three distinct plot threads: her mother’s upcoming appearance on The $20,000 Pyramid Miranda’s story is set in motion by the appearance of cryptic notes that suggest that someone is watching her and that they know things about her life that have not yet happened. The concepts related to space and time are paradoxical and have been confusing for some of my students, but overall this is a great book for anyone interested in science fiction or sleuthing.Twelve-year-old Miranda, a latchkey kid whose single mother is a law school dropout, narrates this complex novel, a work of science fiction grounded in the nitty-gritty of Manhattan life in the late 1970s. Who should read this book: Thoughtful readers who enjoy unexpected twists and turns. Major themes: Understanding who people really are rather than relying on snap judgments or superficial stereotypes coming-of-age and changing friendships I also adore the references to A Wrinkle in Time. Basically, I love everything about this book. Characters are richly developed and the setting feels extremely real. The story has a sense of inevitability, yet the novel’s final twist still took me by surprise. Major themes are explored gradually and woven flawlessly into the plot.

Stead allows readers to make inferences and draw their own conclusions about the story. What I loved about this book: I love Rebecca Stead’s writing–the syntax variation, the mostly short, punchy chapters, the rich subtext. My One Sentence Summary: Miranda is supposed to write a letter about the things that happened after Marcus punched Sal, but at first Miranda is scared and uncertain about who the letter is for and why she must write it. Genre: Mystery (with a touch of science fiction)Ī Favorite Quote: “Common sense is just a name for the way we’re used to thinking.”

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