The Ninja Reviews...When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Miranda is a young girl who, during the 1970s, simply wants to go to school, hang out with friends, and help her mom win big on $20,000 Pyramid. But that doesn't stop the notes from coming.

After a bizarre punching incident, her friend Sal, whom she has walked to and from school with all her life, avoids her. Then one day, even though her mother and herself are absolutely positive neither one of them left the door open, Miranda comes home to an unlocked door. Nothing seems odd at first. Yet, the next morning, she discovered the first note in a library book in her school knapsack. No one out of the ordinary has been in the apartment since she came home. And it is talking about saving her friend's life!

The book is very short, less than a hundred pages. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. The characters intrigued me and I really wanted to know what would happen next. Now, some people may be asking what the $20,000 Pyramid is...Well, the book explains it quite nicely, for those of you who were not around when the show was on TV.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead has won the Newbery Award for 2010. I can definitely see why the book was chosen. However, there is something that all readers of this book would benefit from. Though it is never explicitly mentioned, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle is referred to quite often. Upon hearing of this book as being one of the best Young Adult novels of 2009 a couple of months ago, I read A Wrinkle in Time in preparation. Yes, I will admit (at least as far as I can remember) I have never read Madeleine L'Engle's classic before this. I would say, for any reader who is going to read When You Reach Me, to read A Wrinkle in Time first. The author chose to infer a lot of the plot by using the references to A Wrinkle in Time. So, if you haven't read either, now's the time.

The Ninja Reviews... Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

When the cryptic letters started arriving in the mail, Jonah thought they were a prank. But when his friend Chip started receiving the same letters both boys realized something was up. With no return address and no way of finding out who sent the letters, Jonah and Chip begin to investigate on very little.

Jonah has always known he was adopted and once the letters help Chip find out that he too is adopted, questions start to arise, strange people start to appear, and the only witness to Chip and Jonah's bizarre story shows up. She's the only one talking, but there is a race to silence her story of a mysteriously appearing airplane carrying 36 babies and no adults.

This book starts off a little slowly but builds into a fantastic adventure. It had me steadily turning pages to find out the true identities of Jonah and Chip. And trust me, you will not believe the twist in the end! This book is appropriate for all teens and is a Lone Star Book for 2009-2010.

To find other great books on time travel take a look at our Time Travel Booklist.