A Wrinkle in Time- Book Review

I just finished A Wrinkle in Time for my second time. I read it once in middle school, but with the movie coming out (and my current literary knowledge) I decided it was time for me to reread it.

Meg Murry is a misfit. She feels abnormal and can’t stand herself. One stormy night, she goes downstairs and is greeted by her little brother, Charles Wallace, and soon, her mother. They make hot chocolate and sandwiches, but are soon greeted by another stranger, Mrs. Whatsit. This is the start of their crazy adventure to find Meg and Charles’ missing father and save the entire universe with the help of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and their friend, Calvin. Join them as they tesser (learn more from the book) throughout the universe on the adventure of a lifetime.

It is a good book. I used to consider it one of my favorite books, but reading it at a more mature and literary standpoint I had a few complaints. I did like it, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in reading it, but I noticed a couple things throughout my read-through:

Spoilers present

1. Calvin was a pretty unbelievable character. As the book went on, his character got more likeable and sweet, but his character development was lacking. He accepted the whole “help these kids from school I barely know save their dad” scenario with few questions. If a human being was thrust into such a scenario, wouldn’t they be scared to death, confused, and maybe even skeptical? Calvin acted like this was something that happened everyday, and jumped into helping the Murrys without knowing them well. They met officially in the woods that day, and then he came over for dinner and acted like he’s been best friends with Meg all of his life. Then, they are tessered from earth and he accepts it well.

Sometimes, people do get along with one another almost immediately, but it just didn’t seem believable to me.

2. The writing style was hard to follow sometimes, and almost seemed to have typos. Maybe I am just unfamiliar with the grammar she used, but it was really hard for me to understand sometimes.

Spoilers end

Nevertheless, I do recommend this book to anyone interested. It is a great book for middle school readers, or anyone interested in a one-of-a-kind story. Ms. E’ngle had faith and adds that to her books, and the Christian themes are very common throughout the book, especially love.

I rate it four out of five stars.