:: my new favorite children's book ::

the cute cover and the kid's-mystery-book feel of the back description totally fooled me. I picked up when you reach me by rebecca stead and went, huh. I suppose it could be a cute story. my sister lottie (of 'little lotte' fame) had just finished it for school, and she's like, "yeahhhhh, read it!" so I started to.

the first chapter/prologue-thing was interesting. I was all, meh, not bad. interesting hook. probably the person to whom she's writing is like, her mom, and it'll be how they get to, you know, really understand each other and be bestest friends, and then she and sal are always together and it all works out, and maybe plus mr. perfect, and everybody lives happily ever after.

boy. was I wrong.

I'm having a hard time even knowing exactly what to say about this book, because I loved it so much (once I'd finished it, after uncurling from my fetus position and wiping my red, puffy eyes, I read it again) and I would hate to spoil it for anyone. but I have set myself up to write about it and I will endeavor to finish what I begin.
   gosh, I love this book.

okay, so the premise is that this girl -- miranda -- lives with her mom in a little apartment that's pretty run-down and scummy; a wrinkle in time is her favorite book; her best friend, sal, is no longer speaking to her; and "after three years of trying, [miranda's mom] has actually made it" onto dick clark's game show, the $20,000 pyramid. and then the first note appears in her room, from someone who knows more than they should, and claims they're coming "to save your friend's life, and my own".
   the story follows miranda as she navigates her relationships with the people around her, and learns how to love them; more deeply, it speaks to how much the little things we do impact others, for better or worse -- and how we would change things, if we could go back.

the obvious plot is "miranda's mom is going to be on a game show and must practice for it". this practice involves giving spoken clues to get a desired word ("you use this to put food in your mouth -- not a spoon, but a…" "fork!"). that's the first round. the second is similar, but harder: the contestant is given more word clues, but this time they have to guess the connecting category: things you prolong. things you squeeze. things that are warped.
   I mention this because there are several subplots -- miranda's relationship with sal, and then how she meets the kid who punched him; her growing friendship with annemarie, the best friend of miranda's worst enemy; even her clashes with that worst enemy, julia -- that all serve as smaller threads relating in some way to that original plot, which becomes a foundation for the rest. the game show becomes a frame through which miranda views all the events leading up to it, so much so that the chapter titles (separate sections in her letter?) reflect both the game show and her life: things that go missing. things that get tangled. things that heal. things that blow away.

miranda's friendship with sal breaks up relatively early on in the book, when he's punched by an older boy on the way home from school and then stops speaking to her. in her desperation (sal was really it as far as friends go) she ends up settling for annemarie, a girl from her class who turns out to be much better than miranda first supposed -- and colin, who inserts himself and gets all three of them lunch-break jobs at a greasy sandwich shop down the street.
   but as miranda misses sal, she starts to recognize loneliness in others. she becomes a better friend to everyone around her as she responds to their needs, giving sal his space, supporting annemarie, patching things up with julia, and even becoming alice's bathroom buddy. …you'd get that reference if you'd read the book. hint hint.
   miranda develops in little things. she gives a sandwich to the crazy, homeless man who lives under the mailbox, something she never would have considered at the beginning, she was so scared of him; but she's learned to look more deeply at other people.

still, in keeping with the little-is-bigger-than-you-think themes of the book, those little things make a huge impact. more than "be nice to people" or "don't be prejudiced", when you reach me focuses on no regrets: be whom you want to be now, before it's too late.
   I haven't really touched on the notes, although they're a huge part of the story, because it's just too hard to cover them well without giving away too much; but they eerily hint at a coming disaster, and it's not clear what that disaster is until it happens, when miranda realizes the importance of loving others, the way they want to be loved, and doing it now. while there's a chance. no matter what happened in the past, or what will happen in the future, loving others now will save a lot of regrets. one missed opportunity could break your heart. one hurtful action could alter the rest of your life.

when you reach me is a brilliant book. original, funny, relatable, you understand more each time you read it (at least, that's my experience). the themes are well-drawn and the characters are well-developed, simple enough to get a 10-year-old's attention, but complex and profound enough to keep mine (I'm almost 19, is all. not that my intellect requires so much; I still read sheep on a ship, for pete's sake).
   on a language scale of one to four (sweet, mild, spicy, or hot), I'd say sweet to mild. it is a kid's book, so it's not rough, but there are one or two instances where she uses "hell" (I say 'or two' because I can only remember one, but there might have been another instance), and the Lord's name is taken in vain a very few times.
 
   my book hangover period was approximately 24 hours (I'm only counting until the tearful feeling wore off). this book will stick with you.
   but not that that's a bad thing.