Journal Entry 1 by crimson-tide from Balingup, Western Australia Australia on Saturday, October 27, 2007

Found this wish list book today in a shed sale - what a buzz! And what's even better, I came away with over 20 books for the princely sum of $1. Fantastic!


Amazon.co.uk Review:
"Everyone in town thinks Meg Murry is volatile and dull-witted, and that her younger brother, Charles Wallace, is dumb. People are also saying that their physicist father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumours and an unearthly stranger, the tesseract-touting Mrs Whatsit, Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time. This is no superhero tale, nor is it science fiction, although it shares elements of both. The travellers must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep within themselves to find answers.

A well-loved classic and 1963 Newbery Medal winner, Madeleine L'Engle's 'A Wrinkle in Time' is sophisticated in concept yet warm in tone, with mystery and love coursing through its pages. Meg's shattering, yet ultimately freeing, discovery that her father is not omnipotent provides a satisfying coming-of-age element. Readers will feel a sense of power as they travel with these three children, challenging concepts of time, space and the triumph of good over evil.

The companion books in the Time quartet, continuing the adventures of the Murry family, are A Wind in the Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which won the American Book Award; and Many Waters. Every young reader should experience L'Engle's captivating, occasionally life-changing contributions to children's literature." --Emilie Coulter 

Journal Entry 2 by crimson-tide from Balingup, Western Australia Australia on Sunday, October 28, 2007

Hmm. This was an interesting one . . . not at all what I expected. Both the language and the story fluctuate between being simplistic and then become anything but simple (...'simple' is not really the best word to use here, but if you think of a multitude of its synonyms you'll get the picture). There are some reasonably complex concepts explored - which is always a good thing in a children's book.

The beginning was promising, the middle section became somewhat wobbly, and the end section had rather too many transparently religious (Christian) subtexts for me to rate it any higher. Overall a quick easy read and I'm sure would have been much better received in the 1960s. It does feels dated, and to me the children and the language seem to fit more with being from the UK rather than the USA. Maybe this reflects the fact that L'Engle spent lots of time in Europe? I had a laugh at some of the children's language in places. Having said that, I'll still look out for the other books that follow.

I'm not sure how this one escaped being sucked into our household when I was a child. Perhaps I was too engrossed in stories where children fall through the back of wardrobes, rather than falling through space!


Today (Monday) the book will be travelling courtesy of Australia Post to someone who also has it on their wish list. 

Journal Entry 3 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Friday, November 02, 2007

Well, this is an unexpected surprise! Thank you! I can't recall why I placed it on my wishlist -- I must have heard good things about it, plus I need to read various children's and YA books so that I can keep up. Although this one is quite old. I certainly didn't read it as a child -- I too was busy being engrossed with the backs of wardrobes, and falling down rabbit holes and the like.

Anything that starts out, 'It was a dark and stormy night . . . ' is worth persevering with! Thanks again. 

Journal Entry 4 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Monday, November 05, 2007

A Wrinkle in Time is a fantasy of the sort kids aren’t exposed to these days. It is naive; it is political; and it has religious overtones. I was tempted to draw immediate parallels with Narnia, but that's not fair, as it strays far beyond fairy tale fantasy and into the world of science fiction. The book's themes are not subtle, and it's very uneven -- the first half is far better than the second. It's almost as though the author needed to draw her story out over a couple of volumes. The beginning builds up the characterisation well, but the latter half -- where things really begin to happen, is very quick

But there is magic that pervades the book that made it all worthwhile.

Offered to Round 4 of the Oz VBB. 

Journal Entry 5 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Chosen by DrCris from the VBB (I noticed it was on your wishlist!) and on its way to her today. 

Journal Entry 6 by DrCris from Templestowe, Victoria Australia on Thursday, November 22, 2007

Yes, can't complain when wishlist books end up in the VBB. I have wanted to read this for a while. I have also been trying to collect the sort of young reader books that I want my kids to read so that they are on the shelf. So this one will probably stay with me for a while (Z is almost 2 and J is 3 months - not quite up to reading this yet...). 

Journal Entry 7 by DrCris from Templestowe, Victoria Australia on Monday, January 28, 2008

What a wonderful book. I also never managed to read this as a child. I was surprised at how fresh this book is after so many years - some science fiction dates quite quickly, and others may last forever. Imagine i the author had of managed to maintain the mystery of the first half of the book - that would have been amazing. The religious themes don't bother me so much, partly because it fits with my own spirituality, but also because I have other books like the Northern Lights series to contrast it with. I think this is science fiction for the younger child (mid-primary-ish), though, so the obvious themes work.

I will hold onto this book on my special "to be read aloud" shelf until my kids are tired of it, which may be many years. I am am sure that it will travel again in a decade or so.