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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18131.A_Wrinkle_in_Time?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="A Wrinkle in Time (Time, Book 1)" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1202853583m/18131.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18131.A_Wrinkle_in_Time?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">A Wrinkle in Time</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/106.Madeleine_L_Engle">Madeleine L'Engle</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25358000?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>Ever since I read A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle) as a child, I've consistently used it as my answer to "What's your favorite book?" I began to wonder if it stuck because it truly is such a great book, or if it stuck for lack of coming across something better. So I decided to reread it to find out if it still deserves its status among my favorites. <br/> <br/>Well, I pulled the book off the shelf and began to read it. Coincidentally, a non-fiction book about Madeleine L'Engle that I had reserved at the library arrived at the same time I started reading Wrinkle. This other book is about L'Engle's reflections on her writing life. I ended up reading both at the same time, and they were great companion books, building upon each other. For more details, see my review of Madeleine L'Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life. <br/> <br/>After finishing the first chapter in Wrinkle, I fell in love with it all over again. L'Engle created a quirky family when she created the Murry's, and they each have their defining character traits (though I might argue that the twins--Sandy and Dennys--seem to have the same traits. Perhaps that's not coincidence, since they are minor characters, and twins, after all). Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each member of the Murry household, as well as all the other characters, again. It was like reuniting with old friends. <br/> <br/>Wrinkle is a science fantasy story that involves space and time travel, life on other planets, stars, physics, and good and evil. But it's even more than all that; it is also deeply personal. It's personal because we get to know the characters, flaws and all. Particularly the main character, Meg Murry, whose impatience and strong temper sometimes get the best of her. In this story, Meg discovers what she's really made of. I think one of the reasons I liked this book so much as a child--and why it has always been a favorite--is because I can find myself in Meg. She has flaws, but she is still able to fight "the Dark Thing" around her despite them. I, too, have flaws, but hope to never give up fighting the darkness that pervades our world. <br/> <br/>The book begins on a stormy night, which foreshadows all that follows. In fact, the entire book is like one long dark-and-stormy night as Meg, Charles and Calvin fight in the shadow of the Dark Thing to save Meg's father. Even in the end, when all are safe and the fight has been won, the Dark Thing still looms over them. They have won a battle, but the storm still rages on. <br/> <br/>Another reason I like Wrinkle so much is that it speaks truth. I didn't realize this as a child, but I must have sensed it even then, or it likely wouldn't have become such a favorite. It speaks truth not in the sense that it is a "true story," but in the sense that it teaches truths about life. Evil is real. Darkness can suck you in (like on Camazotz). People have flaws, but can still do great things. People also have gifts. Love conquers evil. So even though Wrinkle is a dark and stormy story, there is peace in the midst of the storm, a light even in the darkness. <br/> <br/>The only reason I gave Wrinkle four stars instead of five is that there is a comment I don't quite theologically agree with in chapter 5: The Tesseract. Though it's just one comment, it is an underlying theme throughout the book. After seeing the Dark Thing for the first time, Mrs. Whatsit is talking with Charles Wallace, Meg, and Calvin about people who have been lights in the darkness--those who have fought against the Dark Thing in the past. That list includes Jesus, Michelangelo, Einstein, Ghandi and Buddha. Though there are similarities among Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, there are enough differences that not all can be true at the same time, and not all fight the same fight. I do believe Ghandi and Buddha were good men with good intentions, but their light is not the light of Christ that truly conquers "the Dark Thing." Besides that, however, I highly recommend A Wrinkle in Time. And yes, it still stands among my favorites. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/415311?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>