"I still think about the letter you asked me to write. It nags at me, even though you are gone and there's no one to give it to anymore. Sometimes I work on it in my head, trying to map out the story you asked me to tell, about everything that happened this past fall and winter. It's all still there, like a movie I can watch when I want to. Which is never."
Miranda and I were on a journey together to collect the clues that would lead to a resolution in this award-winning story of mystery and realty. New York in the late 1970s rings true as we explore the Upper West Side with our young narrator. Some of the clues are right in front of our eyes...on the front cover, but it takes reading and constant moving on to find the answers we are seeking.
A great plot, masterful characters and enough action to encourage and entice readers forward make this middle years novel worthy of the Newbery Award it won this year. As we wander her neighboorhood with Miranda we meet the characters who will play a role in a story that mixes time travel, friendship and family. We avoid the older boys who taunt all passers-by and the crazy man who sleeps with his head tucked under the mailbox on the corner. Our hearts ache with her at the loss of her best friend.
The language is lively, lovely and more than once I found myself adding quotes to my reading journal, wishing I had the mastery of the printed word that Rebecca Stead so obviously does.
You will like Miranda and her development as the story progresses. I like the way she interacts with her mother, her new friend Julia and also her persistence to discover and accept what went wrong in her relationship with her former best friend, Sal. The time travel elements are well plotted and the ending, while sad, is satisfying, too.
This would be a great book to share in middle years classrooms. I would like to be the fly on the wall to listen in on the discussions that emerge.
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