A LoveReading4kids 'Great Read' you may have missed 2011 selection. Winner of the 2010 Newbery Medal, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2011.
This is a brilliantly fresh and original story with a puzzle at its heart. When Miranda’s best friend Sal is punched in the stomach by another boy for no apparent reason everything begins to unravel. Where the threads lead and how Miranda follows them is beautifully and simply told despite the fact that the story they tell is complex and thought-provoking. This is a great book.
Reviewed by Julia Eccleshare M.B.E Julia Eccleshare has a lifetime of working within children’s books as a critic, an editor, an author and a commentator. More reviews by Julia Eccleshare M.B.E
About When You Reach Me
Miranda's life is starting to unravel. Her best friend, Sal, gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The key that Miranda's mum keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen.
Miranda's life is starting to unravel. Her best friend, Sal, gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The key that Miranda's mum keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen.
And then a mysterious note arrives: 'I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own. I ask two favours. First, you must write me a letter.' The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realises that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know.
Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.
'..a well-written and engaging read.. a story in which characters really come alive during those few months we spend with them' - Philip Ardagh in The Guardian
Author
About Rebecca Stead
Rebecca Stead grew up in New York City where she lives today with her husband and two sons. Rebecca used to be a lawyer and wrote books for adults before turning to younger fiction. Her second book for children, When You Reach Me, won the Newbery Medal 2010, and her follow-up, Liar and Spy, was the winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. She now combines her writing with work as a literary agent.
On her website she credits her son with inspiring her to write a children's novel, but not in the way one would expect. For years she had collected story ideas and short stories on a laptop, which the child pushed off a table, destroying it and losing all her 'serious' writing. As a way to lighten her mood she began again with something light-hearted. The creation of First Light followed.
Miranda's life is starting to unravel. Her best friend, Sal, gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed When You Reach Me and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-14 years old
When You Reach Me features in the following genres: Debuts of the Month, Recommendations, Recommended Children's eBooks, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Crime & Mystery, Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 13+ readers, Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month, Stories about Family and Friends
Paperback, Ebook. Not Available.
When You Reach Me was written by Rebecca Stead and published by Andersen Press an imprint of Andersen Press Ltd
When You Reach Me has 199 pages
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