When You Reach Me

Stead, Rebecca. (2009). When You Reach Me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books. 197 pp. ISBN: 978-0-385-90664-7. 

This was the winner of the 2010 John Newbery book. Miranda is a very independent sixth grader in New York City. She knows her way around her neighborhood and takes care of herself most of the time until her mother gets home from work. Miranda and Sal have been best friends ever since they were little. However, one day Sal got punched by Marcus, for what seems like no reason. He shuts Miranda out of his life after this incident. Miranda begins to find mysterious notes that talk about things that haven’t even happened yet. Miranda is puzzled by these notes and what they mean. Miranda becomes closer with Colin and Annemarie and is constantly having conflicts with Julia, Annemarie’s friend. All the characters and the story are tied together by a strange man who was writing the notes. There are many issues throughout this book involving race, ethnicity, social economic status, and many others.  This is a great story about friendship, conflict, and finding one’s self  in a middle school setting, where that can sometimes be a difficult endeavor. This book is a good read for junior high students who are somewhat advanced in their reading level. It can become a bit confusing when A Wrinkle in Time is referenced and it is sort of hard to follow. 


I like this book to be used as a classroom read. It has good potential for making predictions and character analysis. It's not controversial or edgy. Those seem to be good criteria for a classroom read. I would not use it as in class time. It is a good book for them to experience alone and discuss in groups. Any strategies for Beers text would be cool to use with this book.