Thursday, March 25, 2010

When You Reach Me is newest Newbery Medal winner


Judging anything is most often very subjective. Everyone has their own personal tastes when it comes to animals, cars, music...and yes, books. I personally do not always 'get' why a book wins an award. That's because the book did not appeal to me on a deep level. The newest Newbery Medal winner did, however, 'reach me.'

Twelve-year old Miranda lives in New York City with her mom. She loves to read...the same book over and over again. Much is going on in her life. Her mother's boyfriend is getting serious; her best friend, Sal, suddenly wants nothing to do with her; her mother is about to be a contestant on a game show; and someone is sending her mysterious notes.

The first note she receives begins-

'M,

This is hard. Harder than I expected, even with your help. But I have been practicing, and my preparations go well. I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own...'

As cryptic clues in the notes begin to come true, Miranda tries to discover the identity of the writer and what they want her to do.

I finished the book at 6:00 this morning and it was wonderful. My prediction is that if you read this book, you will immediately look for the book Miranda read over and over again, which coincidentally was also a Newbery Medal winner. I know I did.
I will look forward to the next book by Rebecca Stead.

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