A Wrinkle in Time is a novel written by Madeleine L’Engle. This book won the Newbery Award in 1963, as
well as several other awards.
Summary
Meg and her little brother,
Charles, have a special relationship.
They are both odd children, Meg, unable to fit in at school, and
Charles, perceived by others as mentally incapable. They live with their scientist mother and
twin brothers. Their father has
disappeared while working on a government time travel project.
Charles befriends a quirky
lady, Mrs. Whatsit, who lives down the road.
She makes an unexpected visit in the middle of the night during a storm
and mentions to the children’s mother that a tesseract does exist. Meg and Charles notice that their mother is
visibly shaken from Mrs. Whatsit’s comment and this leaves them curious.
The next day the two children
meet up with Calvin, a boy they scarcely know, but all feel that there has to
be something serendipitous about the meeting.
When Charles announces it is time, they head off on an adventure, not knowing
where they are going, what they are doing, or whom they will see. Eventually Mrs. Whatsit and her friends, Mrs.
Who, and Mrs. Which inform them that they must enter the fifth dimension,
tesseract, kind of like a “wrinkle in time” in order to save their father and
possibly all of the inhabitants of Earth.
The children journey through
space and time on their quest, each learning lessons about themselves and each
other along the way.
Impressions
“You have to write the
book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for
grown-ups, then you write it for children.” – Madeleine L’Engle
At the beginning of the
audiobook I listened to, narrated by Madeleine L’Engle herself, the author
explains that this book almost did not get published because many thought it
was too difficult to understand and beyond the interest of children. Currently there are now over 10 million
copies of the book in print, and still over 50 years later, it is a recommended
book on Common Core Standards (NPR Staff, 2012). Isn’t this what we want in a book? Ideas and language that will challenge our
children to expand their minds, perceptions, and creativity?
The book is a medley of
themes with good vs. evil, totalitarian societies, science fiction/fantasy,
time travel, physics, philosophy, and awkward pre-teen issues. It moves as fast as a tesseract, keeping the
reader on their toes trying to follow along through time and space. The story is likely to generate higher level
discussions with middle school students, but it is not necessary to understand all
of the science and philosophy presented here.
It is a captivating read for all upper elementary levels that at its
essence illustrates the depth of sibling love.
Professional Reviews
Yeah. I loved it too. And
yep, I’ve read it as an adult. Still love it. The plot description from my
copy: “It is a dark and stormy night. Meg Murry, her small brother Charles
Wallace, and her mother are in the kitchen for a midnight snack when a most
disturbing visitor arrives. ‘Wild nights are my glory,’ the unearthly stranger
tells them. ‘I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit
down for a moment and then I’ll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way,
there is such a thing as a tesseract.’ Meg’s father had been experimenting with
this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared. Now the
time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallace to rescue him.
But can they outwit and overpower the forces of
evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space?”
According to American Writers for Children Since 1960: Fiction, L’Engle wrote
the book, which 26 publishers rejected, while reading Albert Einstein and Max
Planck. It was also L’Engle’s rebellion against Christian piety. Cynthia Zarin,
in a 2004 New Yorker article, described it as “science fiction, a warm tale of
family life, a response to the Cold War, a book about a search for a father, a
feminist tract, a religious fable, a coming-of-age novel, a work of Satanism,
or a prescient meditation on the future of the United States after the Kennedy
assassination.” Science fiction was a rare bird in popular children’s
literature back then. In her article “Childlike Wonder and the Truths of
Science Fiction” in Children’s Literature, L’Engle writes, “One of the reasons
that A Wrinkle in Time took so long to find a publisher is that it was assumed
that children would not be able to understand a sophisticated way of looking at
time, would not understand Einstein’s theories. But no theory is too hard for a
child so long as it is part of a story; and although parents had not been
taught Einstein’s E = mc2 in school, their children had been.” Christian
fundamentalists have regularly banned this 1963 Newbery winner. L’Engle’s response:
“They said it wasn’t a Christian book. I said, ‘Quite right.’ I wasn’t trying
to write a Christian book. But, of course, it is. So is Robin Hood. The Mrs. Ws
witches? They’re guardian angels!”
-- Bird, 2010
An allegorical fantasy in
which a group of young people are guided through the universe by Mrs. Who, Mrs.
Which and Mrs. What -- women who possess supernatural powers. They traverse
fictitious regions, meet and face evil and demonstrate courage at the right
moment. Religious allusions are secondary to the philosophical struggle
designed to yield the meaning of life and one's place on earth. Young Meg's
willingness to face IT in the form of a black beast in order to save a dear
friend is one sign of her growing awareness. Readers who relish symbolic reference
may find this trip through time and space an exhilarating experience; the rest
will be forced to ponder the double entendres.
--Kirkus Review, 1962
Library Uses
In A Wrinkle in Time, the characters travel through time and space
visiting planets in other universes.
After reading the book together, students could construct their own
alternate planets and write about or illustrate what the inhabitants of the
planet would look like or be like.
Mrs. Who communicates by
reciting quotes. Students could discuss
the quotes in groups and their meanings.
They could create modern day proverbs and connect them to the book
adages on posters.
References
Bird, E. (2010, April 9). Top 100 Children’s Novels (#2).
Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2010/04/09/top-100-childrens-novels-2/
Engle, M. (1962). A wrinkle in time. New York:
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Madeleine L'Engle's Website - Author of A Wrinkle in Time.
(n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.madeleinelengle.com/
The Unlikely Best-Seller: 'A Wrinkle In Time' Turns 50.
(2012, March 5). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/2012/03/05/146161011/the-unlikely-best-seller-a-wrinkle-in-time-turns-50
A wrinkle in time by Madeleine L'Engle | Kirkus. (1962,
March 1). Retrieved February 20, 2015, from
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/madeline-lengle/wrinkle-time-lengle/
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