A Wrinkle in Time

Feb 17, 2013 Kathleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: print-format, science-fiction, graphic-novel, retelling, 5-8, reviewed-edci-311

It's been 50 years since L'Engle put the landmark tale out there. A Wrinkle in Time was the first sci-fi book to win the Newberry. In it's original form, L'Engle's Meg Murray won over readers with her awkwardness and courage. Meg steals the show again in Larson's retelling.

Larson uses a blue and black palette for all of her images in the graphic novel. I found myself convinced that this was in some way intentional as a representation of space and sky. I think for me the best part was that the i...more

like 5 likes · see review

Jan 18, 2013 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: to-share-with-my-daughters

Ainsley adored this rendition of the classic story. I wasn't sure she was ready for the heady prose of the original (she is after all, only a third grader). She was *so* excited about this version and ripped through it in a couple of days. I believe The Phantom Tollbooth is in order... ;)

like 3 likes · see review

Dec 17, 2012 jess rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, graphic-novels, yaf

I loved A Wrinkle in Time as a kid, and I really like Hope Larson's work, but I did not especially enjoy this graphic novel version. The fantastic characters, planets and concepts suffer from the black, blue and white graphic treatment. I prefer the more vivid product of my imagination. I wish I had trusted my gut that this was too good to be true and skipped it, instead of reading 400 pages to end up dissatisfied and disappointed.

However, I probably would not have re-read Wrinkle in Time at th...more

like 3 likes · see review

May 13, 2013 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am having a hard time judging this book. In part, it is because I remember loving this book as a child but I don't remember any of the details why. It's been too long, and I have read thousands of books since then. So I want to judge this graphic novel apart from the classic.

I am sure it is challenging to illustrate 400 pages and keep the characters emoting in different visual ways. All of the characters came off as one dimensional for me. Outside of a couple of blushing scenes with Calvin, M...more

like · see review

May 12, 2013 Rebecca Baker rated it 4 of 5 stars

L'Engle, Madeleine. Adapted by Hope Larson. (2012). A wrinkle in time. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Genre: Science-Fiction

Format: Graphic novel

Selection Process: Found through reviews on teenreads.com

Review:
Meg and Charles Wallace are struggling to adapt to their new school, where everyone sees them as outcasts. There father, a scientist, disappears one day after experimenting with time travel. It seems that he has disappeared into the fifth dimension. Meg and Charles find themselves tra...more

like 1 like · see review

May 07, 2013 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

Review of the story:
Although I don’t like this book, I do think it has a place in the classics. When it was first published in 1962, it set a precedent. Children’s literature lacked complexity, and young adult literature was nearly nonexistent. L’Engle did something revolutionary. Science fiction for children. A female character who liked math. The merging of science and religion. We have all of these things in abundance now, and L’Engle was a starting point. So just because I don’t care for th...more Review of the story:
Although I don’t like this book, I do think it has a place in the classics. When it was first published in 1962, it set a precedent. Children’s literature lacked complexity, and young adult literature was nearly nonexistent. L’Engle did something revolutionary. Science fiction for children. A female character who liked math. The merging of science and religion. We have all of these things in abundance now, and L’Engle was a starting point. So just because I don’t care for the book doesn’t mean I don’t value its contribution.

When I first read this book, I was in fourth grade and an advanced reader. I loved to read, and my teacher made this book sound exciting and magical. But then I tried to read it. I had trouble with the scientific and mathematical concepts (I may have been an advanced reader, but I struggled with math, and we hadn’t gotten to the fourth grade theoretical physics unit yet). I also struggled to visualize the book. The settings are unfamiliar, and they are described in vague ways. I know the flowery language L’Engle uses is beloved by many readers, but as a child reader, I depended upon concrete descriptions. The plot also dragged. Many pages were dedicated to minor details, and I just wasn’t interested. I powered through the book so I could answer the questions on the worksheet, and then went on my happy way.

When I was in a children’s literature class in college, I had to read and review 25 books. I decided to give this one another chance. I did better with the visualizing and science concepts, but the plot still dragged, and I noticed loose ends. For example, we travel to the planet Uriel and learn all about the beings there, make a big show about flying high up onto a mountain top, explain how the children can breathe in the thin atmosphere, and the only element that develops the plot through all of this is the revelation that Uriel is surrounded by The Black Thing. On we go to visit a medium, an extended scene that ultimately tells us that earth is surrounded by The Black Thing, as well. Great—a conflict, right? These kids will fight against The Black Thing and save the earth! Nope. The Black Thing serves only a minor purpose in the book—mainly to make their tesseract travel more difficult at certain times but not affect it at all in others. We never go back to the issue with the earth. The real conflict has to do with saving their father (although we’ve spent many, many pages ignoring that conflict).

I was also bothered by the helpless adults. The Mrs Ws are all-powerful at points, and they sweep in to save the day, but when it gets really important, they’re suddenly helpless. It has to be the kids. No real explanation for this, it’s just how it has to be. And this lack of explanation is present in other areas, too. At first, the Mrs Ws are the ones able to tesser, presumably because they’re supernatural, but then Dr. Murray tessers. How did that happen? So who can tesser? And how? This “magic system” is too loose and incredibly convenient. And how can these earth children communicate with nearly every alien being they encounter? Apparently, the universe is full of English speakers. And what makes Charles special? We hear about how he’s unique, and see this in action, but what is it about him that makes him different?

And then there’s mom. She’s a doctor a few times over and has been holding her family together by herself since Charles was a baby, which is pretty impressive. Yet, all anyone can say about her is that she’s beautiful. That’s the proof of why her husband couldn’t possibly have run off with another woman. Just look at his wife! Ugh. A product of the author’s time and culture, I know, but is this really something we want to present to children today? There are kids out there whose mothers aren’t beauty queens, so does that mean their fathers have permission to leave? Could that be why dad really did leave? And what about the girls who want to pursue advanced education? According to this, their value to their spouses will be entirely appearance based.

There is also a lot of convenient character placing and motivation. Calvin feels like someone who’s there to serve the express purpose of giving Meg someone to talk to. He shows up mysteriously and Meg immediately takes him home to meet mother. It’s too easy, and best friends aren’t made in thirty seconds. Their relationship at the beginning is really where it should be at the end, but L’Engle needed a best friend for socially awkward Meg, so there he is. When she needs a character to have an emotional breakdown, or to be helpless, or to be brave, it just happens. Just because. When L'Engle needed to work in some of Shakespeare's The Tempest, Meg and Calvin just happen to be experts...because high schoolers know that play so well that they can both identify and quote lines.

And the ending—anticlimactic. Meg just has to say “I love you” to her brother about six hundred times in order to break the spell. The science fiction somehow morphed into a fairy tale where mere words are all that’s required. If we were going to go the love route, it should be more than simple words. Anyone can say “I love you,” so Meg should have been required to prove her love somehow. But really, the resolution should have been an extension of all the science that went into this novel. Instead, she went with “deus ex machina.”

That's not to say that there aren't things that work--clearly, there are. Meg is a beautifully conflicted outcast character, and she develops throughtout the story into someone who is more sure of herself. Her relationship with Charles is enjoyably tender. I like the role reversal, with him taking care of her, when we'd expect the teenage sister to take care of him. It showed his specialness. The Mrs Ws are delightful and say darling things, like how it's hard to get on your feet with sprained dignity. The planets and the creatures on them are the result of a powerful imagination. I was truly interested by the events on Camazotz. What a terrible place! And my heart sank for the boy who dropped his ball. It really was a creepy place. There are also some wonderful comparisons, such as life being like a sonnet--a rigid structure with freedom within. (That went way over my head as a 4th grader.)

Review of the graphic novel adaptation:
The graphic novel version addresses most of the issues I had as a child. The illustrations help with visualizing and support the scientific explanations. The graphic novel format makes it a quicker read, so the dragging parts moved along more satisfactorily. All of my plot and character concerns are still there, though, since they are part of the story. The religion aspect (which didn’t bother me) has been toned way down. They still identify Jesus as one of the people working to bring light to a dark world, and the quoting Mrs quotes some Biblical verses, but the heavy-handed, rant-like religious moralizing has been taken out.

I actually like the adaptation better than the original (I would give the original 2 stars), mostly because of the shortened time required to read it. The characters are easy to tell apart, and the action is clear. I’m still on the fence about the color scheme. The entire book (unlike the full-color cover) is in black and blue. On the one hand, this works well keeping the pages organized when there is a lot going on. A lot of color would have been chaotic, and would definitely have required more pages (and higher cost). The muted colors also allowed me to use my imagination more, which is one of the joys of sci-fi reading. On the other hand, the colors created a somber tone for me. No matter what was going on, I felt subdued because of the blue and black. It also got tiring after a while.

More than anything, I’m glad that kids today will have this version, since there are still teachers out there who teach it, and those students will benefit from having the graphic novel. I hope teachers will snatch this version up and share it with their students, not necessarily as a substitute for reading the book, but definitely as a supplement to it. I think my experience as a child reading this in the classroom would have been drastically different, had I had this version.
(less)

like · see review

May 01, 2013 Brenda Lower rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

From my blog at: http://brensbookstoread.blogspot.com/

Meg hasn't been happy since her father disappeared. She is struggling in school even though she is smart, has issues with other kids, and tries to get along with her family. Everyone wants to pick on her quirky little brother who is brilliant, but has issues interacting with people other than Meg. All in all, Meg is miserable, and doesn't have much hope that it will get better any time soon.

One night, when Meg can't sleep, her little brother...more From my blog at: http://brensbookstoread.blogspot.com/

Meg hasn't been happy since her father disappeared. She is struggling in school even though she is smart, has issues with other kids, and tries to get along with her family. Everyone wants to pick on her quirky little brother who is brilliant, but has issues interacting with people other than Meg. All in all, Meg is miserable, and doesn't have much hope that it will get better any time soon.

One night, when Meg can't sleep, her little brother Charles introduces her and her mother to Mrs. Whatsit, a strange, wandering old woman who speaks as strangely as she looks. They snack on some food, and as Mrs. Whatsit is leaving, she mentions something about a tesseract. Meg's mother pales, and tells Meg and Charles that their father was studying tesseracts before he disappeared. Confused by this random comment, Meg tries to continue on with life.

The next day at school, Meg meets Calvin, a local boy almost as quirky as Charles. They talk on the way, and meet Charles in the woods near their house. Charles leads them into the woods to see Mrs Whatsit again, and meet Mrs. Who, another strange woman. Together, they start on an adventure to find Meg's father, and join the battle of light versus dark.

So, the synopsis is taken from my post about the regular novel because it follows it very closely! From what I saw, I wasn't able to discern any differences in plot line from the original novel. I like it when adaptations or reinterpretations stay true to the original!

As for the artwork, I really liked the cover, but was slightly disappointed with monochromatic inside. If the entire book had have color, I think I would have loved it. It was okay, but not fantastic.Clear pictures, without being messy or cluttered, which I did like. I just like a little more color in my graphic novels!

Overall, I really like what they did with the adaptation, I like the story, but wish the illustrations had a little more color. Great story, and oldie but goodie! This would be a great way to introduce the book to a slightly less confident reader. If they like the graphic novel, you could have the read the regular novel, or even other books in the series! Good book!(less)

like · see review

May 01, 2013 Jen Metyko rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 492-extra-books

Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is (ironically) a timeless classic. It tells the story of three kids in an incredibly fantastical circumstance as the reader explores the adventures of their experiences travelling through time and space.

Through A Wrinkle in Time, the reader sees the main characters grow and change, learn something new, find infatuations, and discover themselves. This piece is packed with action and mystery, as well as a little bit of sci-fi for the boys in class. It's abili...more

like · see review

Apr 30, 2013 Valerie Watson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Valerie Watson

Larson, H. (2012). A wrinkle in time: The graphic novel. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Genre:
Science Fiction

Award:
None

Format:
Graphic Novel

Selection Process:
A wrinkle in time: the graphic novel. TitleWave.com. Retrieved from www.titlewave.com

Review:
In this graphic novel retelling of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic tale, Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace, and their new friend Calvin band together to try to discover the truth behind Meg’s father’s disappearance. An experimental...more

like 1 like · see review

Apr 29, 2013 Karen Henspeter rated it 5 of 5 stars

o Your full name: Karen Henspeter

o APA citation: Larson, H. (2012). A wrinkle in time: The graphic novel. Harrisburg, VA: R.R. Donnelly and Sons Company.

o Genre: Modern Fantasy

o Format: Graphic Novel

o Selection process: A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel
Moon, B. (2012). A wrinkle in time: The graphic novel. School Library Journal, 58(11), 128.

o Review:
Madeline L’Engle’s award-winning novel, A Wrinkle in Time, is retold by Hope Larson with surprising creativity and good taste. The nearly-400-...more o Your full name: Karen Henspeter

o APA citation: Larson, H. (2012). A wrinkle in time: The graphic novel. Harrisburg, VA: R.R. Donnelly and Sons Company.

o Genre: Modern Fantasy

o Format: Graphic Novel

o Selection process: A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel
Moon, B. (2012). A wrinkle in time: The graphic novel. School Library Journal, 58(11), 128.

o Review:
Madeline L’Engle’s award-winning novel, A Wrinkle in Time, is retold by Hope Larson with surprising creativity and good taste. The nearly-400-page graphic novel may intimidate some, but it is a quick, captivating read. Using black, white, and blue images, Hope depicts the story of Meg, a young teenager struggling to understand her life and her unique family. Her mother is beautiful and talented, her father is missing, and her little brother, Charles Wallace, is rather unearthly, with a brain and a heart far larger than the average child.

When Meg wanders downstairs one mysterious night, she finds Charles Wallace waiting up for her. Along with their friend, Calvin, they soon find themselves in the company of three witches as they journey to other worlds. The three children soon realize that a Dark Force is at work, and this darkness has a grip on the planet earth and their father. Eventually the children find themselves in the presence of this darkness, and Charles Wallace is captivated by its evil powers. Although Meg’s father is rescued and their party escapes, Charles is lost. Meg must muster the courage to return and save him. Along the way, she learns that the power of love is greater than any hate. In the end, love alone delivers Charles from evil and restores Meg’s family to their original happiness.

Readers will enjoy traveling visually through time and space with Meg and the other loveable characters from L’Engle’s masterpiece. Although there are a few awkward depictions of characters, Larson does a fine job of capturing such a complex story and sharing it in an accessible way.

o Recommendation level: Highly recommended*
* Larson succeeds at tackling a complex story with creativity and purpose.
(less)

like 1 like · see review

Apr 22, 2013 Lisa Schmeiser rated it 3 of 5 stars

My favorite part of the source material:

“In your language you have a form of poetry called the sonnet…It is a very strict form of poetry, is it not? …There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. That’s a very strict rhythm, or meter…And each line has to end with a rigid rhyme pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet, is it? …But within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say whatever he wants, doesn’t he?”

“You mean you’re compar...more

like · see review

Apr 02, 2013 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-for-tristate-young-adult-b

Meg Murray's father is missing. With help from her brilliant little brother and a friend from school, Meg sets off on a mission to save her father, saving the universe on the way.
This is a timeless hero's journey written by a master of young adult fiction. Meg grapples with the sinister being known only as IT, a force that wants every living thing to "give in" and cease thinking for themselves. Along with her extraordinary five-year-old brother and friend from school, Meg enlists the help of Mrs...more

like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Nina G. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: friendship, graphic-novel, chapter

This girls focuses on a girl Meg, who is quite adventurous and into science. Her father has a secret job for the government and Meg and her brother have not seen him in a long time. Meg and her brother go with their friend, Calvin, on a quest to find their father. The three of them journey to another planet where they encounter unique aliens. They say that they will help them find their father. Along their journey they encounter several challenges. The task does not seem as easy as they find out...more This girls focuses on a girl Meg, who is quite adventurous and into science. Her father has a secret job for the government and Meg and her brother have not seen him in a long time. Meg and her brother go with their friend, Calvin, on a quest to find their father. The three of them journey to another planet where they encounter unique aliens. They say that they will help them find their father. Along their journey they encounter several challenges. The task does not seem as easy as they find out their father is being held captive by an evil alien known as "IT". This alien has also tried to make several attempts to hypnotize the children and hold them captive too! In the end, Meg defeats the alien and saves her father through the power of love.

My response: I loved this book! I haven't read graphic novels in a long time and everybody recommended this one. I'm glad I chose this book and I definitely want to purchase it to have it in my classroom one day. This novel was page turner and I loved the illustrations. I think being that this was a graphic novel it made the story a lot more interesting compared to if it was just a chapter book. As weird as it may sound, I was trying to pretend I was in the story and predict what would happen next. I like how this story has a message of being yourself and the power of love.

Classroom Connection: I think students can really use their imagination when it comes to this. Student's can write about what they would do if they were Meg. They can also illustrate their own description of what they might think the alien "IT" would look like. Scholastic.com also gives ideas where children can write about future technology and fantasy places where students can describe the environment of that particular place.

Lexile: 740
Guided Reading: W
I think this book is more geared to students in the fourth and fifth grades. Some of the words may be difficult for children to understand in the younger grades. The illustrations will definitely hold the reader's attention especially for the children who are not that fond of reading. (less)

like · see review

Mar 18, 2013 Jessica Porte rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chapter-book, graphic-novel

Summary:
A Wrinkle in Time is a graphic novel mainly about a girl named Meg and her twin brother Charles. Their father has been missing for almost a year and they hear from the three W's where he is. He is on another planet that has been overtaken by IT. IT is a very powerful thing that is overtaking planets. Meg, Charles and her friend Calvin get transported to this planet that their father is on. When they come across IT, Charles tries to defeat him with his talent of knowledge but losses and I...more Summary:
A Wrinkle in Time is a graphic novel mainly about a girl named Meg and her twin brother Charles. Their father has been missing for almost a year and they hear from the three W's where he is. He is on another planet that has been overtaken by IT. IT is a very powerful thing that is overtaking planets. Meg, Charles and her friend Calvin get transported to this planet that their father is on. When they come across IT, Charles tries to defeat him with his talent of knowledge but losses and IT creates him into a robot like creature and talks through him. IT uses Charles to bring the kids to their father. At the last minute the father "tessering" away brings Meg and Calvin to a different planet, leaving Charles behind. Meg knows that she is the one that has to go back and save her brother. The three W's tell her that she has one thing that the IT doesn't have and that’s for Meg to learn on her own. She learns that Love is the thing that she has and uses her love for her brother to bring her brother back home.
Response:
I gave this book 4 stars because this book was very good but very predictable. I could guess that Meg would have to save her brother. This book did have very cool images that where working with the words to tell the story. Made for and easy read. This book reminds me off movies that people teleport to other planets and have to defeat an evil that’s there; this is probably what made the book very predictable.
Classroom Connection:
A way to bring this into the classroom is to have the students make predictions of technology that will be in the future and have them write the disadvantages and advantages of this new technology. Retrieved from: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/le.... This will help the students think of new technologies but also they will have to assess the new item and why it will be a good technology.
CCSS:
The lexile reading level is 740L. The interest level is 6-8. The grade equivalence level is 4.7 and the guided reading level is W.
(less)

like · see review

Mar 11, 2013 Gene Kannenberg Jr rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens, comics, fantasy, from-the-library, sf, adaptations, reviewed

My fifth grade teacher, Miss Wocher, read Madeline L'Engle's classic science-fiction children's novel A WRINKLE IN TIME to our class, one chapter each Friday afternoon. After a few weeks, I bought my own copy so that I could read along with her. It quickly became one of my favorite books; I was enchanted with its fantastic premise (a group of children travel through time and space, guided by three mysterious women, to rescue their father), its quirky characters, and L'Engle's overall way with wo...more My fifth grade teacher, Miss Wocher, read Madeline L'Engle's classic science-fiction children's novel A WRINKLE IN TIME to our class, one chapter each Friday afternoon. After a few weeks, I bought my own copy so that I could read along with her. It quickly became one of my favorite books; I was enchanted with its fantastic premise (a group of children travel through time and space, guided by three mysterious women, to rescue their father), its quirky characters, and L'Engle's overall way with words. (Although I was devastated when I looked up tesseract in my dictionary only to conclude that, apparently, she had made it up!) I never forgot the book, and, when I taught Children's Literature courses many years later, AWiT was always on my syllabus.

So I approached Hope Larson's adaptation, A WRINKLE IN TIME: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, with no little trepidation, even though I had liked earlier work of Larson's that I had seen. Could this adaptation possibly compare to my experience with the original? (Even though, as I've written about before, hoping for absolute fidelity to an original work in an adaptation is a sucker's game.) However, my fears were for naught. Larson actually achieves a remarkable amount of fidelity to L'Engle's original novel, and the publisher (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is to be commended for allowing Larson to produce a truly substantial adaptation: At just shy of 400 pages long(!), this book has the room few other adaptations are afforded to really slow down the storytelling and include the smaller, character-enhancing moments that almost always get sacrificed in adaptations for the sake of "just getting the plot across," usually as economically (i.e., briefly) as possible.

We get to see lead character Meg Murray's awkwardness, her hesitancy, her headstrong nature, and her bravery in full measure, and the other characters are also allowed to develop and to shine. For example, during the first and most difficult "tesser" (a sort of space/time dimensional warp), Meg's disconcerting reaction to the process is given about seven full pages to play out, really allowing the reader to experience her disorientation almost as fully as one does in reading the novel itself. If you haven't read many comics adaptations, you cannot imagine how refreshing this luxury of space is. Even most film adaptations of literary works must cut out more detail and texture than Larson needed to here.

The artwork, in black and white with blue tones, manages to be both straightforward and carefully delineated in equal measure. Larson's inkwork is lush and bold, appealingly simple and, yes, cute, but without ever seeming too cloyingly cartoonish. Larson is equally adept at depicting subtle character emotions and otherworldly dimensional realms. Some readers might find the more alien landscapes a bit thinly detailed in places, but I think this is very much in keeping with L'Engle's original book, which excels at creating feeling and mood over intricate technical descriptions. At these books' heart is the emotional arcs of the characters - especially that of Meg, a character with whom I identified a lot as a child - and not thick science-fiction detail.

Is reading the graphic novel the same experience as reading L'Engle's original? Of course not - but then, it's not meant to be. The original novel is still there to thrill and delight young readers. But Hope Larson's A WRINKLE IN TIME: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL is a more-than-worthy companion to L'Engle's classic book. It's a very assured and appealing work in its own right, one which offers readers a new and richly imagined version of a tale which has already endured for more than fifty years.

Originally published at: http://one-sentence-reviews.blogspot....(less)

like 1 like · see review

Feb 20, 2013 Jill Sanders rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chapter-book, edci-311, graphic-novel, science-fiction, print, 740l, grade-4

This adventurous book is a first person point-of-view story with Meg Murry. Her brother, Charles Wallace, has an interesting character. Meg lives with her mom, brother Charles, and two twin brothers. Their father had to leave on a mission with the government, and rumors spread that he left Meg's beautiful mother. Charles had three friends that lived in a so said haunted house down the street. Meg, her mom, and Charles were talking in the kitchen when they heard a loud noise coming from downstair...more This adventurous book is a first person point-of-view story with Meg Murry. Her brother, Charles Wallace, has an interesting character. Meg lives with her mom, brother Charles, and two twin brothers. Their father had to leave on a mission with the government, and rumors spread that he left Meg's beautiful mother. Charles had three friends that lived in a so said haunted house down the street. Meg, her mom, and Charles were talking in the kitchen when they heard a loud noise coming from downstairs. Meg's mom went down to see who it was and came up the stairs with Mrs. Whatsit! They gave her a snack, and found out that she took Mrs. Buncombe's sheets. They were also talking about the tesseract and it upset Meg's mother so they stopped talking about it. The next day, Meg and Charles set off to Mrs. Whatsit's house to ask her why she took Mrs. Buncombe's sheets. They ran into an older boy named, Calvin, with a hard life at home. When they came to the house, they saw Mrs. Who cutting wholes in the sheet. She said it was to have ghosts and scare people.

Meg and Calvin went on a walk the next day and I could tell Calvin was starting to like Meg. All of a sudden, Charles came up behind them and asked them to come with on an adventure about their father. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which took all three of the kids to a new planet using tesseract. The three of the magical ladies left the kids after they went to the dark world where their father was. Charlie had great curiosity about a man wanting him to look into his red eyes, and the IT got ahold of him. Evil Charlie leads them to their father, and Meg saves her father using glasses that Mrs. Whatsit gave them. Charles then leads them to IT, which is a GIANT brain! IT tried to take over Meg and Calvin, but Meg's father tessered them to a new planet. Meg was frozen and could not move because IT almost got her. Some strange aliens took care of her and Meg went back alone knowing she was the only one that could save Charles because she had known him the longest. In the end, she figured out that the IT did not have love, and saved Charles!

This story made me feel like I was in the story, I was able to see the pictures and the reactions of people's faces as they made comments. I noticed that I often looked read the text and did not focus on the images as well. I had to stop myself and read over the page after I was finished with each page. I thought it was funny how Mrs. Which was a witch, but I did not like that because students would probably misspell the word, not realizing they are two different words and meanings.

After reading this to my class, I would hand my students a worksheet divided into sections having: nouns, verbs, and adjectives that the students have to list about IT. For example a noun would be 'Charles', a verb would be 'use', and an adjective would be 'large.' By doing this Reading/Language Arts activity, students will get to know their nouns, verbs, and adjectives better. I will have students work with another person as well, to help them work off of each other because it can be hard to think of some nouns and verbs. This activity also helps them digest the story.

The lexile is 740 and the guided reading level was not listed, but I would say it is a P. The interest level begins around fourth grade, but I would not expect a student to read this independently and understand everything until sixth grade.

(less)

like · see review

Feb 15, 2013 Charles Hatfield rated it 4 of 5 stars

Most literary adaptations in comics—more broadly, most adaptations from other media into comics—are rubbish. Cooked up by publishers rather than artists, cranked out against hard deadlines, and too often conceived as study guides rather than autonomous texts, comics adapted from famous books tend to be lousy adaptations and lousy comics: clumsy, clotted, graphically stodgy, lifeless, and pointless. Visually, a deadening literalness, a sort of bland pseudorealism, tends to be the dominant approac...more Most literary adaptations in comics—more broadly, most adaptations from other media into comics—are rubbish. Cooked up by publishers rather than artists, cranked out against hard deadlines, and too often conceived as study guides rather than autonomous texts, comics adapted from famous books tend to be lousy adaptations and lousy comics: clumsy, clotted, graphically stodgy, lifeless, and pointless. Visually, a deadening literalness, a sort of bland pseudorealism, tends to be the dominant approach, either that or a generic "manga"-like style, and great undigested chunks of prose (or, in the case of the mostly dreadful Shakespeare adaptations, verse) sit uneasily on the page, damping down the artist's energy and ingenuity, if any, and making the work look like mere jobbing. This includes Marvel's recent forays (the Shanower/Young Oz books excepted) and the barrel bottom-scraping output of Classical Comics, ugh.

Happily, Hope Larson's adaptation of L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time appears to have been a self-motivated and very personal project, and it benefits from its near 400-page length, which allows Larson to translate the rhythms of L'Engle into a different rhythm of her own. If the book's images don't quite match the heady strangeness of L'Engle's more fantastical moments, if its otherworldly landscapes and creatures seem a little too prosaic to be quite transporting, still Larson capably manages the original's odd mix of whimsicality and eeriness. She does good work with the characters, particularly the conflicted heroine, Meg, and her genius brother Charles Wallace, an uncanny child, whose gifts and precocity are among the most haunting things, I'd say, in the original (Larson is particularly good with Charles' transformation into a creepy puppet of a higher power, a shift that makes his uncanny self-command seem downright evil).

Larson does not stint on the didacticism, moralism, religious underpinnings, or serious emotional conflicts in L'Engle, but faithfully tries to bring the novel's eccentricity and irreducible strangeness to the fore, while yet telling the story of an adolescent girl whose troubles are easy enough to comprehend. Larson's take on Meg appears subtly feminist to me, without ever idealizing the character, who, after all, L'Engle sometimes writes as weak and confused. Meg's final transition to courage and purposefulness comes across quite distinctly, without making everything bluntly affirmative and one-dimensional.

My sense is that A Wrinkle in Time was a hard, hard book to adapt, but I'm glad to say that Larson's effort seems to have come from an inward passion for and understanding of the novel. Larson offers a smart reading of L'Engle, and an engaging comic, artful, crisply drawn, and deliberate, with several intriguing formalist coups along the way in the area of page design. The very deliberateness, and small, unyielding format, tend to domesticate L'Engle's wilder flights—I'd love to see some more expansive pages and more rapturous drawing during the novel's cosmic episodes—but the emotional conflicts driving the story are preserved and highlighted with a keen intelligence.

A true comic, then, not just a study guide!(less)

like 1 like · see review

Feb 10, 2013 Crystal rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, hi-ya, graphic-novel

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Feb 05, 2013 Shirley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic, children-s-books, graphic-novel

I confess that I've never read "A Wrinkle in Time" before this version...I know it's a classic but I never got around to it, and honestly wasn't interested in reading it at all. But it's such a BIG children's classic that I knew I would have to read one day. So it was perfect that I found this graphic novel version on the shelf! I think it's great to have this version in case kids feel the same way, and if they don't get around to reading the original novel, at least they can read this version (...more

like · see review

Dec 09, 2012 Andrew Shuping rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel

“A Wrinkle in Time.” A book that has been around for almost 50 years now and still has a powerful following. When you talk to folks that have read the book their eyes and faces light up with joy, as they recall the powerful story and characters of Meg, Charles, Calvin, Aunt Beast, the Red Eye Man...and the rest of the beloved characters. You can almost see the characters come to life as people talk about the story and share their favorite parts of it. And as part of the celebration of its 50th a...more “A Wrinkle in Time.” A book that has been around for almost 50 years now and still has a powerful following. When you talk to folks that have read the book their eyes and faces light up with joy, as they recall the powerful story and characters of Meg, Charles, Calvin, Aunt Beast, the Red Eye Man...and the rest of the beloved characters. You can almost see the characters come to life as people talk about the story and share their favorite parts of it. And as part of the celebration of its 50th anniversary Hope Larson brings her considerable talents to bring the characters to life in a graphic novel adaptation of this timeless story.

Hope Larson is one of my favorite artists/authors out there and she’s the perfect choice for creating this adaptation of “A Wrinkle in Time.” In her first book, “Salamander Dreams,” she tells us a rather short story of growing up and finding where home is, but she layers deeper meaning within the well chosen words that will leave you pondering the story long after you’ve put it down. Her simplistic illustrations conveyed depth and life to the characters she created. Since I first read that book, I’ve eagerly read each new story that she’s put out. She brings the same passion and depth that she’s created in her own stories, to this adaptation of “A Wrinkle in Time.”

Since most folks that read this adaptation are going to be familiar with the original story (and because I can’t hope to even begin to describe the story well to do it justice) I’m instead going to focus on the adaptation of the book. One of the great things, and most difficult things, about adaptations is you get to see a story from a different perspective as the author (or someone) choses which parts of the story to carry over into the new work. It isn’t an easy task as not everything can be included and you’re bound to leave off a bit of the story that was someone’s favorite or you try to capture everything and it just becomes a weird mashup that doesn’t work. But Hope has done an excellent job of capturing a lot of the depth of the novel and it’s characters in this 400 page adaptation. While there are things that are left out, Hope captures the essence of the characters and what makes them tick while they undertake this arduous journey to save not only Meg’s father, but themselves as well. Fans of the original story will delight in seeing their favorite scenes brought to life,while newcomers to the story will see the journey into worlds unknown. And everyone will want to pick up the original story to relive Madelieine L’Engle’s original stories.

Hope’s artwork is fantastic. It captures the essence of characters well, especially with Meg. We see her fear, her hopes, and her dreams brought to life on the page. We get a true sense of her humanity within the depictions. Her brother Charles is also well captured, with big eyes, depicting his almost other worldly nature. It is a bit off putting in some places because you realize he isn’t quite human...something more or something that wasn’t designed quite right. The other characters and depictions are well done as well, such as seeing mathematical equations depicted. Hope uses a two color toned system with a pale blue and black. while at first it might seem that it would hinder the story being told, I found that it actually enhanced it and created something greater. It helped create the sense of otherworldliness and the characters journey along their path. It really feels like we’ve left our world and gone somewhere else.

In short, this a powerful adaptation and fans of the original story and newcomers will all find something to enjoy. Because it is an adaptation I do recommend that folks read or reread the original at some point, to be able to create their own imagery of the story. But Hope’s adaptation definitely deserves a place on your bookshelf.

ARC provided by Gina at FirstSecond(less)

like · see review

Nov 05, 2012 Jessica at Book Sake rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm coming into this review as a blank slate. I don't know anything about 'A Wrinkle in Time' novel. I haven't read the novel and I'm not sure I've heard of it. Zero emotional attachment. I wasn't even sure what to expect. Given all that, I didn't really enjoy the book.

The book starts off as any typical coming of age story. A misunderstood teen with more to offer then any of her peers realize. Then things start going off the tracks and this story becomes an interstellar adventure to save the wor...more

like 3 likes · see review

Oct 01, 2012 Wandering Librarians rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, family, friendship, middle-grade, adventure, science-fiction

I expect a lot from my novel adaptations. If something's already an awesome book, and it's being turned into something else, be that a TV show or a movie of a graphic novel, I feel it should be equally as awesome. Is that so much to ask? You have such great material to work with. How can it go wrong? Of course, sometimes it does.

I love A Wrinkle in Time and have read it many times. I was excited to read the graphic novel adaptation, because it seems like such a great book to do in the graphic no...more I expect a lot from my novel adaptations. If something's already an awesome book, and it's being turned into something else, be that a TV show or a movie of a graphic novel, I feel it should be equally as awesome. Is that so much to ask? You have such great material to work with. How can it go wrong? Of course, sometimes it does.

I love A Wrinkle in Time and have read it many times. I was excited to read the graphic novel adaptation, because it seems like such a great book to do in the graphic novel format. The novel has such beautiful imagery, it was going to look gorgeous on the page.

I think Hope Larson did a great job with adapting the story. Much of the dialogue is directly from the book. This allowed the characters to remain themselves in their new form. Hope Larson nicely allowed the characters to explain themselves more to make up for the lack of background information.

What did not work for me was Hope Larson's art style. It's not that I don't like her art style. I've read all her other books, and I've enjoyed them. However, her style is very simplistic. There is little color or detail in her work. Sometimes it is actually unclear what is happening in the pictures because of this. Other times she has to resort to using words where she shouldn't have to. In one scene, Mrs. Whatsit takes Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin flying up to the top of a mountain to wait for sunset and moonset. There are two panels, one representing sunset and one moonset. On the top of each panel is written "sunset" and "moonset" otherwise it would not have been clear. In a graphic novel I feel like that shouldn't have to happen. The pictures should be able to speak for themselves.

There was such fabulous potential for beauty and darkness in A Wrinkle in Time. They travel to other worlds, they see strange creatures. They see things that are amazing beautiful and incredible frightening. I didn't get anything of that from Hope Larson's illustrations. No beauty, no darkness. I really wish that this adaptation had been illustrated by someone who had a more detailed, painterly style. I wanted the beauty and the darkness.

It's still a good adaptation, I just would have preferred a different visual experience.

A Wrinkle in Time comes out October 2, 2012.
(less)

like 9 likes · see review

Oct 01, 2012 Seth Hahne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

[This lady, who is old enough to know better, is being petty and mean.]

Adaptations from literature into the comics form have it pretty rough. It's not like with movies where a charismatic star or a sublime musical score can provide lift for a work. Unless an adapter is wildly liberal in the work of adaptation, comics have exactly two things to work with: writing (provided largely by the original author) and art through which to carry forth the dialogical and narrative aspects of the work (respec...more

like 7 likes · see review

Feb 06, 2013 Sara Baker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1-8, graphic-novel, friendship, chapter-book, modern-fantasy, science-fiction

Summary
This book is about a girl named Meg, who seems to not be like the rest of the kids. She has a brother named Charles Wallace, who is very intelligent especially for his age. She also has a set of twin brothers. Her mother is a scientist and is currently taking care of the children. Meg's father works for the government and has been on a special assignment for a while where he cannot write to them or communicate at all.
Along Meg's journey to find her father, she meets another very intelli...more Summary
This book is about a girl named Meg, who seems to not be like the rest of the kids. She has a brother named Charles Wallace, who is very intelligent especially for his age. She also has a set of twin brothers. Her mother is a scientist and is currently taking care of the children. Meg's father works for the government and has been on a special assignment for a while where he cannot write to them or communicate at all.
Along Meg's journey to find her father, she meets another very intelligent person named Calvin. Calvin is great with communicating, which later helps them on their journey. The children have three "guardian angel" type people helping them. The children discover when making their way through their journey that their father was being held captive on another planet. In the end, Meg saves the day by using her true gift, love.

Responses
I noticed that this book was very easy to read. It was my first graphic novel I ever read and it was quite interesting. The book held my attention and made me want to read on.
The story made me feel happy and nervous at parts. I was nervous and sad when I did not know what was going to happen to Charles Wallace. However, I was happy and proud of Meg when she saved the day with her love. I, also thought it was cute how they included a little love action (kiss) between Meg and Calvin.

Classroom Connections
The classroom connections that naturally link to this book are that love overrules all darkness. I believe this because the only way Meg ended up getting her family safely back home was using her power of love. Charles Wallace was trapped in a "spell" before hearing and feeling his sisters love. She was able to bring him back home once she stopped the darkness from controlling him.

CCSS range
According to lexile.com, the lexile is 740. This book is perfect for a teacher to read aloud to a class in about third grade. It is the type of book to hold a child's attention. This is a good book for a forth or fifth grader to read independently. The theme of love is something that all students need to know and feel. Reading this book will help them understand how love triumphs evil.(less)

like · see review

Dec 20, 2012 Holly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads

I am still new to graphic novels and don't know the standard to which they aspire, but I will assert that this one didn't really work. Perhaps others readers agree, which is why the only blurb garnering the book jacket is from James Patterson (or is he a trusted critic of young adult novels adapted to comic book? No, I didn't think so either).

Was the central character, Meg Murry, really this unappealing? Her only facial expressions appear to be dull stupor, blissed out dopey smiles, and overwro...more

like · see review

Nov 11, 2012 Kristilyn (Reading In Winter & Winter Distractions) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, read-in-2012

When I was in university YEARS ago, I read Madeleine L'Engel's classic A Wrinkle in Time for the first time. I remember absolutely loving it and have always been telling myself that it's due for a reread one of these days. So, when I saw that my library was getting the graphic novel of the story, I jumped and put my name on the hold list immediately.

Honestly, though, when I finished reading the book, I wondered what I had liked about it so much. I'm not sure if it was a change in tastes, or the...more

like · see review

Nov 15, 2012 Mari Anne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mg-ya

I love the fact that I am getting to read some classics that I would never want to read in the full narrative. This is one I never picked up growing up... and now I know why. First of all science fiction is my least favorite genre, so I would normally never be interested in this. But, since this is a "classic" I have always felt the need to at least peruse it. Thankfully I was able to quickly do just that in this great graphic novel format! I quickly learned though, that this isn't the book for...more

like · see review

Jan 11, 2013 Justin G rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was just reading A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel. It is a type of book that is both science fiction and realistic. The story is about a girl named Meg and a little kid named Charles Walles.She lives in a family with two brothers and their mom. Meg really loves her dad but doesn't know where he is.

Meg and Charles meet Mrs. What's-It in the middle of the night. But, it turns out that Meg was only dreaming. Later that day Meg and Charles go to find Mrs. What's-It and meet Calvin. He was runn...more

like 1 like · see review

Nov 02, 2012 Lindsaygail rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic, read-in-2012

A Wrinkle in Time is one of my very favorite books, so I was excited to see what Hope Larson would do with the graphic novel. I've read the story so many times, it wouldn't have been possible for any artist to capture it the way I already had it imagined in my mind's eye, but I liked Larson's take on it once I got used to how it was different from mine. This story, in particular, requires the reader to imagine of lot of things that he or she won't have preconceived images of. How should a tesser...more

like 1 like · see review

Mar 03, 2013 Valeta rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, science-fiction, traditional, my-reviews

Summary
This book is about siblings Meg and Charlie, and their friend Calvin’s unusual journey. These three kids travel through time to another planet to rescue Meg and Charlie’s father. On this planet they discover that everyone is the same and unhappy. They make friends with three aliens, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, who help them defeat “It” the evil villain. Once they learn what make them different from “It” they are able to defeat it and return home.

Response
I give this book a fi...more

like · see review

topics	posts	views	last activity
Write Reads Podcast: Write Reads Episode #3 is now available!	1	2	Jan 14, 2013 11:13am
Write Reads Podcast: how does the graphic compare to the novel?	1	5	Dec 20, 2012 09:40am

title link	preview: A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel
avg rating	preview: A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel Goodreads rating: 4.02 (5060 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13513205-a-wrinkle-in-time?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334801023l/13513205.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13513205-a-wrinkle-in-time?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson[/url]

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (1)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Hope Larson

Books by Hope Larson

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About A Wrinkle in Time...