When You Reach Me

Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me, the 2010 Newberry award winner, is one of my new favorite young adult books.  It's hard to put your finger on what genre this book belongs in, but it is essentially a coming-of-age story of a young girl growing up in New York City in the late 1970s.  In When You Reach Me, the main character Miranda deals with the typical issues of a sixth grader, like the complicated dynamics of friendship and first romances, while becoming entangled in an extraordinary mystery that will save the life of her best friend.

The story is compelling and the reader becomes a part of the mystery as pieces begin to fall into place.  I loved this book, I couldn't put it down. The main character Miranda is a work of genius. I felt like I knew her and recognized little bits of myself in her. The story is heartbreaking yet beautiful and hopeful.

I recommend this book for 4th-8th graders, and for adults who want a unique reading experience and to reconnect with their youth.  This book may be a little challenging for some children/young adults (I don't know if I would have liked it myself when I was younger), but it could be a good tool to stretch a young person's mind or introduce them to the fantasy/sci fi genre.