When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, is a compelling book that will leave readers on the edge of their seats.  When Miranda and her best friend Sal enter the 6th grade, they are prepared for the chaos and crazy people of New York City.  But when events like when Sal is punched in the face and the apartment key that Miranda and her mother hides goes missing, Miranda finds many mysterious notes.  Miranda continues to find more and more notes in places like her pocket and her book.  She begins to realize that this mysterious person is trying to tell her that she is the only person who can save someone from a tragic death.  All of these notes make Miranda believe that she might be too late.

Loving and caring for your family is a major theme in When You Reach Me.  I enjoyed reading the adventures and hardships that Miranda and her family faced during the book.  I also found it fun trying to figure out who was the secret note writer is and why this was happening alongside Miranda.  I would recommend this book to people who are in 4th through 6th grade who enjoy reading mystery books, because although it is a good book,  the style is more for younger kids.  In portions of the book Rebecca Stead used ‘you’ to show that she is writing to the note writer.  This enhanced the book because it made readers think that Miranda was writing to the note writer, but also makes the book more confusing because “you” can be anyone and in the beginning of the story it doesn’t say who “you” is, making the book confusing.  I also liked learning more about Miranda because she is an engaging character who is trying to adapt to the 6th grade life after she lost one of her only friends, Sal.  Also, learning more about New York through Miranda’s fun adventures was fascinating.  While reading When You Reach Me I learned to always tell friends how you feel to prevent miscommunications, like what happened with Miranda and Sal.