MMGM: When You Reach Me and First Light by Rebecca Stead

I have a treat for you today! My son is guest posting his review of WHEN YOU REACH ME and I will be posting THE FIRST LIGHT (also by Rebecca Stead). He's 11 and loves physics and time travel, so WHEN YOU REACH ME was right up his alley. 

Here’s what he had to say about it:

How would you feel if you found mysterious notes from a strange figure who knew your name?

That’s exactly what happens in Rebecca Stead’s novel, WHEN YOU REACH ME. WHEN YOU REACH ME is a book that combines mystery with a little bit of science fiction.

         Miranda is a 12-year-old only child who lives in New York City. She is curious and notices things no one else notices. She has a normal life until the notes start coming and curious events happen.

        At the very beginning, Miranda’s mom is chosen to be on the 1970s TV show THE $20,000 PYRAMID. Her boyfriend, Richard, helps her practice. Meanwhile, about halfway through the book, Miranda receives a note that begins with the words:

             M,

            The trip is a difficult one.

       The events that follow are very unusual. The author builds suspense by leaving the reader wondering over and over again who is writing the notes. The effect is an exciting plot that makes this book hard to put down. I recommend this book to readers of all ages.

FIRST LIGHT is Rebecca Stead’s first book. I always think it’s interesting to go back and read the book an author wrote before his/her career really took off. FIRST LIGHT has the hallmark charm and multi-dimensional characters of Stead’s other work and an unusual premise. I was immediately intrigued by Peter’s scientific parents and the Greenland setting.  

Here’s the synopsis from Amazon:

Peter is thrilled to join his parents on an expedition to Greenland, where his father studies global warming. Peter will get to skip school, drive a dogsled, and–finally–share in his dad’s adventures. But on the ice cap, Peter struggles to understand a series of visions that both frighten and entice him.

Thea has never seen the sun. Her extraordinary people, suspected of witchcraft and nearly driven to extinction, have retreated to a secret world they’ve built deep inside the arctic ice. As Thea dreams of a path to Earth’s surface, Peter’s search for answers brings him ever closer to her hidden home.

My only quibble about this book was that I found the dual-narrative to be distracting, especially in the beginning. Thea’s world was so different and hard to imagine, so I kept wanting to stay with Peter, whose world was more familiar. But by the end of the book, I loved how both storylines connected in a very satisfying ending.

 

For more Marvelous Middle Grade titles, please see Shannon Messenger's blog. She is the author of KEEPER OF LOST CITIES (MG) series and SKY FALL (YA).

What interesting middle grades have you read lately?