Module 4: Newbery Medal
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Book Summary:
Meg is a young girl with a loving family. She
has a wonderful mother, twin brothers, and she has a very special relationship with
her brother, Charles Wallace. However, her father has been gone for some time.
When three strange women, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Who, come into Meg’s
life they take her on an arduous journey to find her father, who has actually been
held prisoner on another planet. Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallace
have to face danger and a seemingly robotic society in order to rescue Meg’s
father and return home.
APA Book Reference:
L’engle, M. (1962).
A wrinkle in time. New York, NY: Crosswicks, Ltd.
Impressions:
I
read When you Reach Me first, so I
already knew what to expect: I knew about Meg losing her brother and getting
him back with love; I knew that they rescued her father; and I knew it was
somewhat of a love story between Meg and Calvin.
It
took me a while to get into it, and honestly, if I hadn’t already known what
was going to happen, I may have given up on the book. I’m glad I finished it though
because it was a well written suspenseful story nonetheless.
I
enjoyed the introduction of the dystopian, somewhat robotic, society. I also was
intrigued by the notion of IT. However, there were a few things in the story
that I disliked. The first was that IT actually had a physical body as it were. Meg describes IT as
looking like a giant brain, and that description made me less frightened of IT
if I’m being honest. Also, I truly disliked the dialogue of Mrs. Which and Mrs.
Who. Mrs. Which speaks in stretched out words, and Mrs. Who speaks in
quotations from different languages. Trying to read the dialogue from both of
these characters slowed down the story for me.
Professional Review:
Wilson, B. (2012). A wrinkle in time. Booklist, 108(18). Retrieved from: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA291352282&v=2.1&u=txshracd2679&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w
A Wrinkle in
Time. By Madeleine L'Engle. Read by Hope Davis.
2012. 6hr. Listening Library, CD, $25 (9780307916594). Gr. 4-8.
This compelling new production helps commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of L'Engle's thrilling and moving 1963 Newbery Medal winner about adolescent Meg Murry, who travels through time and space to find her missing scientist father. Davis deftly narrates this allegorical fantasy-adventure, capturing the excitement of beloved Meg's transformation from awkward social misfit to danger-defying heroine. With urgency in her voice, Davis conveys Meg's multifaceted personality, especially her impatient stubbornness. She also sounds effectively boyish as Meg's jock pal Calvin; delightfully creaky as otherworldly Mrs. Whatsit; and quivery as lovable, multilingual-quote-spewing Mrs. Who. And she does wonders with Meg's five-year-old telepathic brother, giving him a creepy robotic voice after he falls under the Spell of the evil IT. An introduction read by the late author begins this first-rate presentation. Libraries owning the 1994 audio (read by L'Engle) will want to add this flesh version to the collection.--Brian Wilson
Library Uses:
This book could be used
in a fantasy/time travel book display. It could also be used along with Stead’s
When You Reach Me as part of a
program that shows how older books do not lose value because they can be
mentioned in new novels in a new innovative way.
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