About this title: A classic battle of good versus evil as well as a reflection on the value of being true to oneself and the power of love and faith, A WRINKLE IN TIME is the first book in the Time Quartet series. Meg Murry, the daughter of two brilliant scientists, is a socially awkward 12-year-old who has trouble fitting in at school. Her closest friend is her younger brother, Charles Wallace, an extremely bright 4-year-old who is also gifted with second sight. Accompanied by friend Calvin O'Keefe, and aided by the unearthly trio of Mr. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, Meg and Charles Wallace travel to ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Slight bend to the front cover. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 224 p. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Different cover design, but same ISBN as listed-Cover has minimal wear; pages are unmarked. SHIPS NEXT DAY. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Scholastic Book Services, New York
Date Published: 1970
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. tight-clean unmarked pages some wear to cover. 256 p. : ill.; 18 cm. Includes Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. "TK 1595. " read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Laurel-Leaf Books
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780440998051ISBN:0440998050
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 224 p. Audience: Children/juvenile. Some tanning of pages due to age. The Newberry award winning classic tale. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Scholastic Book Services, New York
Date Published: 1970
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. VG-reading copy. 256 p. : ill.; 18 cm. Includes Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. TK 1595. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Scholastic Book Services, New York
Date Published: 1970
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. F-one cover crease. 256 p. : ill.; 18 cm. Includes Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. "TK 1595. " read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Yearling Books
Date Published: 1973
ISBN-13:9780440498056ISBN:0440498058
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Very light edge and corner wear. Corner creaseon cover. No marks. Tight, square book. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 240 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Good Plus Condition, No spinewear creases, clean pages, shows edgewear/shelfwear. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 240 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Very clean copy; cover shows minor wear; tanned pages are not marked by any writing. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Front cover has corner creased; spine uncreased; pages unmarked, lightly tanned. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: Very Good. 0440498058 Great condition Soft Cover book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, light edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Description: Very Good. 0440498058 Great condition Soft Cover book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, light edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
"I just re-read this classic children's novel for the first time in many years, and it was a wonderfully nostalgic experience. The characters are engaging and relatable, the mission the children go on (to save their father) is important and truly dangerous, and the message communicated through the book (faith in oneself and the overwhelming strength of love) is a good one that kids need to hear more often.
It also struck me just how much more used to be expected of young readers. Not to malign any of today's young adult authors, but the level of discourse, vocabulary, and sophistication exhibited in L'Engle's writing is quite beyond much of what is released today for young readers. Yes, the science is very fantasized, but with writing as intelligent as this, I would feel safe putting this in the hands of a young budding scientist/explorer. The use of science in this book, while rather "wonky," and often completely wrong, can only encourage actual exploration and appreciation of the subject.
Not to mention how groundbreaking it must have been in the 60's for the character of the mother to be a brilliant scientist with a PhD.
One day, when I have kids, I will make sure they have a copy of this book and its sequels."
"It was a dark and stormy night." Honest to goodness, that's the opening line.
Written almost fifty years ago, Wrinkle is a cliche within a cliche, but it's not entirely L'Engle's fault because (despite that century-old opening line) much of what she wrote was old and fresh.
As fantasy, it's great. As a children's book , it won the John Newbury Medal (what can I say?). But as science fiction, it stinks. That should not keep anyone from reading and enjoying it, but know what you're getting into. This is like C. S. Lewis's space series.
L'Engle obviously slept through high school science. Her physics is all fantasy, though her explanation of "tessering" works better for me than flying through worm holes and other faster-than-light scenarios. Her chemistry and biology are so wrong they add to the humor. The chapters on the Ixchel's sightless natives illustrate the point.
"Aunt Beast" acknowledges their sun has "rays" which cause plants to grow, but persists in thinking seeing is quaint and unnecessary. Then Meg realizes that everything is dull and gray because it doesn't need to be colorful, since the natives can't see it. I'm not making this up. (A quibble: Aunt Beast uses the word "see" for understanding, but later comments what a curious concept seeing is. If you don't understand it literally, how do you understand it a a metaphor?)
L'Engle didn't seem to understand that color, like taste and smell, is inherent in objects, whether someone sees, or tastes or smells the object. If a tree falls in the forest, sound is generated whether anyone hears it or not. (Yes, yes, flowers and fruit are specialized to aid their propagation, which supports my contention because some of the "color" of flowers is in wavelengths invisible to the human eye, but easily seen by the target insects.) I suspect that any carbon-based plant processing photons from a main-sequence yellow sun to make sugar will do so with chlorophyll, therefore will be green--whether anyone is around to recognize it or not. Iron oxide will be red. (Hence our neighboring "red" planet.) White light impacting falling water droplets produces a rainbow. Certainly different creatures may not see the colors we see, but (philosophically speaking) we don't know that we "see" the same colors each other sees.
Despite all those groaners, an absolutely smashing story, with iconic (if now stereotypical) characters. It's like watching original "Star Trek" episodes from about that same time. They're cliched, but it's not all their fault. Some of it--less in the case of Star Trek--wasn't a cliche...yet.
And the anguish Meg feels is honest and real. And the solution rings true.
"I loved this book when I was younger. Maybe because the main character's name is Meg, just like me! The story is suspenseful and exciting. A great read!"
"This classic novel for middle graders begins on "a dark and stormy night." Meg Murry, her younger brother Charles Wallace, and her mother, a scientist, are in the kitchen having a midnight snack when a strange visitor shows up at their door. Soon after, this visitor, Mrs. Whatist, takes Meg, Charles Wallace, and their schoolmate, Calvin, on a dangerous journey to save Meg and Charles Wallace's father, a scientist who has been missing for over a year.
A Wrinkle in Time has been a favorite of children for many years. Because I never read it as a child, I'm not sure if my opinion about it would be different. For example, I recently reread The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that I read multiple times when I was a child. While I observed some shortcomings in the books and was bothered by the religious undertones I never seemed to notice when I was a child, I thoroughly enjoyed rereading them as an adult and getting reacquainted with familiar characters and plots.
Maybe I would have felt the same with A Wrinkle in Time. However, after reading it for the first time as an adult, it was just okay.
I loved the characters...kind hearted Meg, the exceptionally bright Charles Wallace, down-to-earth Calvin, and the quirky Mrs. Whatist. The plot full of magic, space travel, suspense and mystery is good enough to get a child hooked on sci-fi/fantasy. The dark and frightening climax when Meg is fighting "It", the disembodied brain, will keep kids on the edge of their seats, and I think many will be eager to read the other four novels in the quintet.
What bothered me though was the lack of detail I would have liked to have seen more of. I wanted to know more about Mrs. Whatist and company and more about Aunt Beast, the furry creature that saves Meg's life. I would have liked to have seen the aftermath of Meg's defeat of "It" on Camazotz. Were the people freed? Was "It" destroyed? Granted, this may be revealed in a later novel in the series, but I did wish that there was a little more background information.
The other thing I had a hard time getting past was L'Engle's religious messaging. I admit that I'm uber-sensitive about having religious messaging in children's books that aren't advertised as religious-themed books. I feel that it alienates children of different faiths and is unnecessary in mainstream stories like this, especially when it adds nothing to the storyline. This has been a contentious issue since the book's publication, and L'Engle herself has always claimed that she talks about faith, not religion. I remain skeptical about that.
But religion aside, I do think it's a book that many children will enjoy. Because there are some frightening situations, I do not recommend it as a read aloud to younger children. I think grades 5-7 would be the appropriate age range."
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