When You Reach Me

"When You Reach Me" is a science fiction and mystery novel that won the Newbery Medal. It was written by Rebecca Stead and published in 2009. The story happens in the Upper West Side of Manhattan during the years 1978 and 1979. It is about a sixth-grade girl named Miranda Sinclair.

One day, Miranda finds a strange note in her school library book. The note is unsigned and only says "M." This starts a mystery that Miranda has to solve by herself. While trying to solve the mystery, Miranda also deals with school, her friends, and helps her mom get ready to be on a game show called "The $20,000 Pyramid." The host of the show is Dick Clark.

Important people in the story include Miranda's mother, her mom's friendly boyfriend named Richard, her best friend Sal, and a homeless man who lives near Miranda and is called "the laughing man." The book talks about important ideas like being independent, forgiving people, and friendship.

The author, Rebecca Stead, got the idea for the book from a real story about a man with amnesia, parts of her own childhood, and her favorite book when she was a kid, "A Wrinkle in Time." After she wrote most of the book, she worked with her editor, Wendy Lamb, to make it better. The book became very popular and was on the best-seller lists of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. Besides winning the Newbery Medal, it also won many other awards for being one of the best books of the year.

Concept and development

Rebecca Stead started writing When You Reach Me in 2007 after reading a story in The New York Times about a man who woke up in Denver with no memory of who he was. This idea made Stead think about what if someone could travel back in time to change the past.

Stead also used parts of her own childhood in the book. She remembered a strange man who lived near her apartment and included places like her elementary school and a sandwich store where she used to work. As she wrote, the story became more about everyday mysteries than just time travel.

Stead faced challenges while writing and even stopped for a while. But after a talk at a writers’ conference, she started again. Her editor loved her first draft and didn’t change much. The book includes parts of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, which was Stead’s favorite book as a child.

The story happens during the 1978–1979 school year on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where Stead grew up. She used her memories of exploring those streets and a scary encounter she had there as inspiration for the book.

Plot

Miranda, a sixth grader, lives with her single mother. Her mother is going to appear on the game show $20,000 Pyramid, and Miranda and her mom's boyfriend, Richard, are helping her prepare.

Miranda receives a series of mysterious notes that tell her to write a letter about future events. The notes claim to come from someone traveling to her time to save a life, and they give her proof by describing things that come true.

One day, Miranda's friend Sal is almost hit by a truck, but a homeless man, who everyone calls the "laughing man" because he often laughs for no reason, pushes Sal out of the way and is hit instead. Miranda later learns that this man came from the future to save Sal. The story ends with Miranda giving a letter to her friend Marcus, as the laughing man had asked her to do in the notes.

Genres

When You Reach Me is a book that mixes science fiction and mystery. It also has elements of historical fiction, stories about school life, and tales of friendship. One special part of the story involves ideas about time travel.

Reviewers have said the book feels like a puzzle. As you read, you find clues in the story, on maps, and in chapter titles. By the end, all the clues fit together and make sense. The mystery in the book doesn’t get solved until the very end, when the last clue appears and everything becomes clear.

Themes

The book talks a lot about friendship. It shows how hard it can be to keep old friends when new friends come along. Miranda has to deal with her friend Sal leaving her after a fight with another boy, Marcus. This makes Miranda find new friends and learn more about school life.

The story also looks at how kids used to have more freedom. Miranda and her friends walk around town by themselves, something that is rare today. The book mixes past, present, and future in a way that makes the story complicated and full of mystery. Miranda learns that her world matters and that people care about her.

Audiobook adaption

The audiobook version of When You Reach Me was released by Listening Library and has four disks. Cynthia Holloway’s performance as Miranda was praised by M.V.P from Horn Book Magazine, who said her tone highlighted the story’s relationships. The reviewer liked that chapter titles were included in the audio, giving more details about the book, but noted that they could be skipped if desired. M.V.P did, however, feel that the way Miranda's mom was voiced needed improvement. AudioFile praised Holloway for her strong reading, which made listeners interested in the story’s unusual structure and how all its parts fit together.

Critical reception

When You Reach Me was published on July 14, 2009, by Wendy Lamb Books, part of Random House Children's Books. People liked the book a lot. It appeared on many bestseller lists. It was on the New York Times Best Seller list for 16 weeks and was also on the USA Today and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists.

Reviewers liked the way the book showed everyday life and the characters. They thought the story felt real, especially how it showed New York City in the 1970s. They also liked how every little detail in the book helped tell the bigger story.

2010 Newbery Medal

The book won the Newbery Medal in 2010. This award is given each year to the best children’s book in America. The people who chose the winner liked how every part of the book helped the story and the characters.

2012 survey

In 2012, a big survey by School Library Journal asked people to pick their favorite children’s books. When You Reach Me was chosen as the 11th best book of all time. It was the only book from the 2000s to make the top 20.

Awards and nominations