A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Have you ever had a book that sat on your “to read” list for twenty years and you aren’t quite sure why?  A Wrinkle in Time is just such a book for me.  My little sister Katie highly recommended it to me while I was in college and even loaned me her copy, but I never got a chance to read it.  It’s always been in the back of my mind, and with the new movie coming out, it seemed like now was the perfect time to read it.

This book has time travel and a female protagonist, which would have been totally up my ally as a teen / pre-teen, I’m not sure how I missed it.  Originally published in 1962, I am amazed at how this book is before its time.  Not only is the main character of this sci-fi novel a female, but her mother is also a PhD scientist that works as an equal partner with her husband.  Very cool.

Meg never fits in anywhere.  Besides feeling that she looks odd and she doesn’t like the regular material at school, her father vanished without explanation years before causing much talk around town.  After a mysterious visitor appears, Meg together with her brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin, travel through time and space to find her father.

I loved that the story not only was a cool time travel story, but was also a great coming of age story as Meg tries to find and like herself.  I really liked the explanation of the travel through space and time using drawings.

My son Kile does not want to read it because the main character is a female.  Has anyone else had this experience?  He wants to read about a fellow male protagonist, unless the female is an animal.  At twelve, he is not fond of girls or any sign of romance in a novel or a movie.

Favorite Quotes:

“Yes.  I believe that they do.  But I think that with our human limitations we’re not always able to understand the explanations.  But you see, Meg, just because we don’t understand doesn’t mean that the explanation doesn’t exist.”

“A book, too, can be a start, ‘explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,’ a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.” – a quote from L’Engle’s Newbery Medal Acceptance Speech from 1963.  It is a wonderful speech about the love of reading and the love of fantasy/sci-fi.  It’s worth reading on its own!!

Overall, A Wrinkle in Time is a classic sci-fi / fantasy novel that deals with time travel, and also understanding yourself and what it means to love.  I thought it was a great unique story, especially for the time it was written.  It’s interesting how many tales that came after it borrowed parts of it.  I think the movie looks really interested and I can’t wait to see it!

Have you seen the movie or read the book?  What are your thoughts?

Book Source:  Purchased while we were Christmas shopping – I can’t remember where.