So I really don’t want to say to much about the book because I didn’t know a single thing about it when I read it, so the little twist at the end was a really nice surprise.  It’s also the type of book that as soon as you close the very last page, you want to open the first one again and start all over again.  I borrowed this one from the library but it’s a keeper that I’d like to add to my library and I think would also make a great read-a-loud as a family.

A perfect compain book to When You Reach Me is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (which by the way I hated! Previous link is my review).  Our main charater in When You Reach Me, Miranda, has this FAVORITE book which she reads over and over again.  When she first mentions the plot but without mentioning the title (not given till much later – so the comparison between the two books may go over some people’s heads), I thought to myself – ugh, that sounds like it’s SO not my type of book.  At the next book reference I realized that her favorite book was A Wrinkle in Time and yep – so not my type of book!

But When You Reach Me IS my type of book.  One that I would wholeheartedly recommend even if I didn’t tell you anything about it.

Links of interest: Rebecca Stead website and blog, more book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Middle Grade Fiction, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books.  July 14, 2009.
Hardcover, 208 pages. ISBN 0385737424
When You Reach Me is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox is the type of book that you don’t want to know to much about and I was glad that I didn’t.  I loved learning each new detail as they were revealed throughout the book.  There are a lot of ethical and moral dilemmas presented throughout the book as well as discussion on what it means to be human.  Where does our identity come from?

The writing is very tight, no words wasted here.  I’m not sure I liked the epilogue.  It seemed a bit too forced, but it didn’t hamper my overall enjoyment.  Recommended.

The book trailer:

Visit www.whoisjennafox.com and Mary E. Pearson’s website and blog.