the book that first inspired me to tentatively pick up my pencil and my marbled black-and-white composition notebook (remember those?) and write (in 4th grade). the influence l'engle herself and her work have had on my life cannot be understated. i met her many many years later, during college, when she was well into her 80s, but she was exactly as i pictured her-- spirited, engaging, challenging. when i (very nervously and shyly) told her that she gave me my first inspiration to write, she look More...

So 41 of my goodreads friends have read A Wrinkle in Time, but I never picked up the book until these past few weeks. I’m not sure how this novel and I slipped past each other in my youth. I’m guessing that since the main character was a girl I wasn’t that interested in middle school and when I grew older the science fiction elements didn’t appear strong enough to snag my interest. Oh well. Last weekend I bought A Wrinkle in Time at a Borders near the Seattle airport. I wanted the novel to get m More...

[Later note: Had discussion with author about this book and why it means so much to so many people—specifically women. Also read excellent NYTimes piece about the fiftieth anniversary.

Some books are powerful for their readers because of their context; in this case, the utter lack in popular kid's literature of 1962 of characters like Meg—real girls, who cared about atypical subjects like math, who were unashamed to be other than pink-wearing cheerleaders. To find a powerful role model in a nove More...

Madeleine L'Engle is a Christian writer, more so even than C. S. Lewis in my opinion. However, while the influence of Christian Theology (and in later books, biblical history) is woven throughly through out all the books in this series, it is not offensive to non-Christian readers. I am one of those.

To be completely honest, when my mother first read me this when I was about 7 years old, I was totally oblivious to the influence L'Engle's faith has on her writing. It wasn't until I was twelve or More...

4/10/12 Okay, this is the longer review. The added bit follows the dashed line ---

I learned about this outstanding book and its brilliant author from
Catie’s wonderful review and blog post. Yes, I should have known about it many years ago, but this was a gap in my experience. To make up for lost time, I now have the boxed-set series of 5 books for my family.

This is a wonderful adventure story for children - one that speaks to them as adults, and conveys a bundle of important life-concepts witho More...

"It was a dark and stormy night."

After reading on a friend’s blog that she had recently read this book, I was tempted to do a re-read myself. I was sure I had read it at some point in my childhood, and remember finding it magical and engrossing. So when I came across the book in the thrift store for 99 cents, I couldn’t resist.

Once I started reading it, though, it became clear to me that I had probably never read this book before in my life. Not one thing about it seemed familiar to me, except More...

This is a short, easy read that rates a 4.4 on the Flesch-Kincaid reading index (meaning that it requires a 4th-5th grade reading level). But that's based strictly on the sentence structure, vocabulary, paragraph size, etc.

What the stats don't cover is the depth of feeling and the profound scope and meaning in this book. Madeleine L'Engle's sentences may be rather simple but her notions of good, evil, love, and devotion are taken to a cosmic level (literally). This isn't mere sci-fi or fantasy; More...

"it was a dark and stormy night . . ."

and so begins one of the best stories ever with one of the most improbably wonderful first lines. i read this first in fourth grade, at the pressure of my mother, who insisted i would love it despite the fact i was in a phase of "anything not based on history or about living in the woods/island/frozen tundra alone sucks!!" so it took me a while to pick it up. then i simply couldn't put it down. i have probably read this book upwards of fifty times, and it ne More...

I have a brother. I have three, actually. Two are older and pretty well adjusted (well, we'll say that for the sake of argument here) so they won't get a lot of time in this story, and I have a younger one. He's special. We could tell from a early age that he was smart - really smart - and creative and not as into sports as the other boys. We lived in a nice suburban town where my mother seemed to be the only one without a father in the house, and that made us different. She wasn't into the same More...

I really don't know how to review this book. I read it a while a go and it was and still is one of my dads favourites. Basic Thoughts: An intriguing story with a unique plot. This is my dad's favourites and I recently read it again, it's a really good read. I recommend it to anyone who knows how to read and even if you don't (have someone read it to you), this is one of those classics you must read before you die.

It is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read and it is well wor More...

I started reading "A Wrinkle In Time" when I was 8 or 10. I say started because I never finished it. I can't remember exactly why, but I think it kind of scared the crap out of me. Now, 15 or 17 years later, I've read it again (this time the whole thing) and there's really nothing scary at all about it. It's possible that, as a kid, I was somehow relating this book to the terribly scary Disney movie "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Again, I don't know why.

Whatever the reason for my fears, the More...

Like many others, I read this in grade school and loved it. I think I read it several times. By now I'd forgotten every name, every place, every plot point. Every single detail except the radiant warmth I'd felt for this book, such that if it was mentioned I would immediately pipe up that I loved it.

I began reading this the night I received it (thank you, book fairy!, hugs to youuuuuuu!), spine curled into a C in my beloved reading chair, inviting the back hump so common in Korean women of older More...

I read this when I was in fifth or sixth grade and I loved it. Re-reading it as an adult, I realized there was no way my eleven-or-twelve-year-old brain could have fully appreciated this masterpiece. After all, I am no Charles Wallace. Sure, the book has fantasy elements like travel through time and space, magical beings, and other worlds, but this is so much more than a children's hero tale. This is a beautiful book about love, good over evil, being different, and what happens when we realize o More...

Wow! I forgot what a great book this is. I read the four Madeline L'Engle books when I was a kid, but it was C. S. Lewis that I read over and over again. "A Winkle in Time" is really a classic piece of children's literature though, and deserves much attention.

To all of the normal readers out there, that's all I have to say. Read it again! It will only take you about two hours or so, and it is well worth it.

To the Lost Book Club peoples:

There are a few things in this novel that might reflect on More...

A Wrinkle in Time is a children's fantasy novel with a significant element of science fiction; its thoughtful ideas, intriguing plot and amusing conversation style make it enjoyable to read; yet, it often borders on being overdone.

The novel tells us about Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin, and there travel in the universe in order to rescue Meg and Charles Wallace's father. Just like every rescue novel, this was not exactly easy.

The novel was generally good; however, it had some problems in my o More...

I do not like Meg. I really do not like Meg. She's a stubborn, whiny little brat.

I wasn't all that into this story until they got to the planet of Camazotz. Then it becomes sort of like a kids' book version of Brave New World, with "IT" instead of "soma."
"On Camazotz we are all happy because we are all alike. Differences create problems."
"We let no one suffer. It is so much kinder simply to annihilate anyone who is ill."

I'm not terribly wild about the in-your-face religious references in the More...

Meg has glasses, braces, an incredible talent for math, and absolutely no patience for bs or mediocrity. She protects her genius little brother, Charles Wallace, against the cruel taunts of the villagers. And she gets into fights over her parents' reputation on a weekly basis.
She is pretty much the best character in the entire world. I would read a novel about her even if it were about the mundanities of village life. Instead she, Charles Wallace, and her schoolmate Calvin (smart, handsome, pop More...

Before anything else, I'd like to remind myself why I've been really meaning to read this book. This a Newberry medal award winner in 1963, and since most of the Newberry Medal books that I've read were really good, i assumed I will also find this one entertaining.

However, contrary to my assumption, I did not find it as entertaining although I really appreciate how it was written in such a way that you will really have to pay attention it and exercise your imagination to the highest level while More...

I seemed to have missed this book when my daughter was at the age to have read it. She tells me she did read it in her youth, but it was not one of the books we shared at the time of her reading. Not having read it to her, I knew the title but not the book’s content.

This year for my twin granddaughters' 9th birthday, their father bought the book for Hannah who, of the two girls, seems the more steadfast reader. Hannah suggested that we read it together. Her proposal: She would read a chapter alo More...

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 child More...

As a child, this book opened up new worlds to me, quite literally almost, that I had never imagined. Madeline L'Engle became a goddess who guided me through the imagination using science as a light. Not that I grew up to be a rocket scientist or anything, but this book really electrifies the mind with its possibilities and bends preconceivced thought regarding reality, devotion and love. Last year, I read it again to my son. It was a new discovery to re-read it as an adult as well as being able More...

After finishing the book several days ago and thinking about it a lot since putting it down, what stands out most to me is L'Engle's bold choice in 1962 to publish a book with so many strong female characters. In that early post-50's era in America, most women stayed at home to raise their children and did not work outside the home. Mrs. Murry, however, is a brilliant scientist who ponders some of the universe's most challenging questions in what appears to be an equal partnership with her husba More...

L’Engle, Madeleine,1962. A Wrinkle in Time. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

The children of scientists, Meg and Charles Wallace Murry are both extraordinarily intelligent and unique. Four-year-old Charles Wallace, who lets people continue to think he’s a moron because it “gives people something to feel smug about” and sees no reason to disillusion them, has the special ability of being able to communicate with others without hearing them speak. Meg, a math wiz who is frequently getting into fights wi More...

I passed over these series as a child, although I remember wanting to know what the hype was about. I finally picked up this first book and gave it a try. I'll just come out and say it: I was almost annoyed with how bored I was reading this. I'm really confused as to why it was such a big deal! It felt like a short story! I've read a lot of children's books and none of them felt this...lackluster in regards to the content inside the story. I'm not saying I disliked the characters or the events. More...

I don't ever remember reading this book before and I am truly glad I took the time to enjoy it. There is a part of me that really wishes I had some form of witchery, angel visions, paranormal in a good sense in my own life. I don't like the scary part of the story, I just want to read about everyone's quirky behaviour and how everyone gets along with it. Well, I do like the story well enough that I've rented the movie from Netflix. I want to see how it portrays everyone. Will I read the other bo More...

This book has teached me, to know that the future, can be changed. That the past is just the past that you can change it into something else. Madeline Lengle made me understand that a wrinkle in time is just a wrinkle you can make it go away.its suchn a great book because it was the book that was extremely chalenging and had the best vocabulary! Also because it made you want to know about the future and makes you reflect about it. This book is about to kids that there father and mother are scien More...

First, understand that I am editing this review after several outraged responses. I knew that "Wrinkle" was considered to be a classic, but I was unaware that it was considered a Beloved Classic Beyond Criticism. I read this in grade school and just REread it aloud, to my daughter. I didn't have a clear memory of it, though I remember that I loved the way it started. Now I realize why I forgot so much of it. I STILL love the first 3 chapters, and dislike the rest. But since some of you found (an More...

A Wrinkle in Time is a very interesting, but it may seem boring until you get past the first three chapter. My favorite part of this book is when Calvin, Meg, and Charles resist IT (an evil brain-computer) because IT has never been resisted before. This part was interesting because of the suspense. My favorite character of the book is Charles Wallace because he was the leader of the three kids and he knew what other people will do before they even they do it! I think the author wrote this book b More...