Friday, April 23, 2010
Publisher Review: When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
This first caught my attention because it is last year's Newbery winner, and I try to make sure I hit those big titles amidst my reading. The jacket blurb sounded decidedly strange, leaving more questions than anything, and it seemed like this was one you'd have to read to get, as if it was defying attempts to describe it.
It didn't grab me on the first few pages, to be honest. But once I started further in, and started to care about the characters and be curious about where the story was going, it became a series of events that were a little strange, full of hints, and weaving their way slowly towards a fascinating conclusion.
It's definitely a book for older children - it contains some minor violence, some abstract concepts, and a horrible accident, and would just fly over the heads of younger children. But for the child who can follow it and stick with it through the first little bit as it gets going, it holds rich rewards. It's a book that has stuck with me after I closed it, a sure sign of a worthwhile read.
This first caught my attention because it is last year's Newbery winner, and I try to make sure I hit those big titles amidst my reading. The jacket blurb sounded decidedly strange, leaving more questions than anything, and it seemed like this was one you'd have to read to get, as if it was defying attempts to describe it.
It didn't grab me on the first few pages, to be honest. But once I started further in, and started to care about the characters and be curious about where the story was going, it became a series of events that were a little strange, full of hints, and weaving their way slowly towards a fascinating conclusion.
It's definitely a book for older children - it contains some minor violence, some abstract concepts, and a horrible accident, and would just fly over the heads of younger children. But for the child who can follow it and stick with it through the first little bit as it gets going, it holds rich rewards. It's a book that has stuck with me after I closed it, a sure sign of a worthwhile read.
Labels: 2009, family, friendship, good stuff, growing up, middle grades, Publisher Reviews, slightly weird stuff
# posted by kittenpie @ 11:21 AM 
