Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that kids say this book is so exciting that they read it in one sitting. This well-written novel encourages an interest in science and math, and makes a strong case for close sibling relations.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Katherine Olney
For many children, reading this book is a turning point in their intellectual lives, opening to them worlds of science and literary complexity. Grown scientists who read the book as a child recall it as being the first book that encouraged openness to imaginative speculation, the root of all scientific inquiry and creativity.
In a book this rich, children of widely differing tastes and temperaments find different elements to enjoy. Those who like action and adventure enjoy its science fiction story, filled with strange creatures and Meg's showdown with IT. Preteens of both sexes can relate to the coming-of-age theme, with a hint of romance, and commentary on the value of individuality over conformity. And kids who aren't terribly popular enjoy watching an outcast become a hero, and doing so by finding that her faults are also her strengths.
Parents who want to expose their children to women and girls who are passionate about math and science would do well to slip their child a copy of this book. Not only do Meg and her mother fit this particular bill, but it is Meg who wages the battle between good and evil. "I liked that it was Meg who rescued her father and brother" remembers one science-loving fourteen-year-old who read the book in fifth grade. "I also never forgot Mrs. Who's description of a tesseract ... it was so cool!"
Lovers of A WRINKLE IN TIME may want to check out the next book in L'Engle's Time series, A Wind in the Door, as well as The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper.
From The Book
"That sort of shadow out there," Calvin gestured. "What is it? I don't like it."
"Watch," Mrs. Whatsit commanded . . .
Meg looked. The dark shadow was still there. It had not lessened or dispersed with the coming of night. And where the shadow was the stars were not visible.
Plot Summary:
Meg's father, an eminent physicist, has been missing for two years. One night a strange old woman, Mrs. Whatsit, appears, "blown off course" while she, along with Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, was tessering, or taking a shorcut through time and space.
They take Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their new friend Calvin, to rescue Dr. Murray, who is a prisoner on a planet ruled by IT, a giant pulsating brain that controls the minds of everyone on the planet. Charles Wallace also falls under IT's control, and when Meg finds her father, she discovers that he is not the invincible protector she thought he was. She must not only come to terms with this realization, but find a way to rescue them both.
Related Books:
Next Books in This Series:
A Wind in the Door
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Books with Similar Themes:
The Dark Is Rising
High Wizardry
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