A Wrinkle in Time (The Time Quartet) [Paperback]

Madeleine L'Engle (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 15, 1973 | Age Range: 10 and up | Series: The Time Quartet

This special edition of A Wrinkle in Time includes a new essay that explores the science behind the fantasy.
Rediscover one of the most beloved children's books of all time: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle:

Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time.

Meg's father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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 rumors 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 travelers 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. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Review

1998 marks is the 35th anniversary of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. To celebrate, Bantam Doubleday Dell is publishing two wonderful new editions of L'Engle's Time Quartet, including A Wrinkle in Time; A Wind in The Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet; and Many Waters.

In both the new digest and the mass market editions, each title includes a new introduction by the author. Covers of the digest editions are illustrated by Caldecott Honor illustrator Peter SÝs, and the mass market edition covers are illustrated by renowned science fiction and fantasy illustrator Cliff Nielsen.

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Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 211 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (March 15, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440498058
• ISBN-13: 978-0440498056
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,282 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #510,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Madeleine L'Engle, the popular author of many books for children and adults, has interspersed her writing and teaching career with raising three children, maintaining an apartment in New York and a farmhouse of charming confusion which is called "Crosswicks."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

155 of 164 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars For every child who doesn't quite fit in July 8, 2007

By E.H.

Format:Paperback

Meg Murray was one of my best friends growing up. She was imperfect, and loving, and confused, and wickedly smart, and astonishingly dense, and absolutely could not see the beauty of herself (both inside and outside). As a young girl who was also struggling with these things, I found solace and comfort in immersing myself into books where in "the real world" the same types of issues occurred, but that there were "greater" things going on, that she was so uniquely qualified to work on.

While it is true that the book can be read allegorically, it is a treasure all unto itself. I have many geeky, male friends who enjoyed this book as a child, but it did not resonate with them like it did with the woman I have spoken to. I think this is a book wonderful for all genders and ages, but especially lovely for young girls who are a little smarter than the rest of their class, who feel a little less attractive, and who are just finding it difficult to traverse their world.

Many years later, I still find myself reading or listening to this book at least once every year. When things in life start to get a little crazy, and all of those same feelings come back (only now it is being a little too smart at work, and being a little less socially skilled at networking, etc), I visit my friend Meg, and between the two of us things always seem clearer by the end of the book. :)

It is worth noting that there are 3 other books in this "series". A Wrinkle in Time is the first one, then "A Wind in the Door" (A Wind in the Door), "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" (com/Swiftly-Tilting-Madeleine-LEngles-Quintet/dp/0312368569">A Swiftly Tilting Planet), and lastly "Many Waters" (Many Waters). The first three are closely tied, but the last one, Many Waters, I actually only realized existed a few years ago. Instead of Having Meg Murray as one of the main characters the book is about an adventure that her younger, twin brothers have. Still good, but a little different than the first 3.

No matter your age, if you have never read these books, and have a little bit of the "intelligent misfit" about you (or ever did), I strongly recommend you pick these books up! Read more ›

165 of 178 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sci-Fi, Adventure, Magic and much more March 23, 2001

By Joanna Daneman #1 HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This is a children's book, but it isn't just an adventure story.

It has science-fiction; The Drs. Murray, parents of Meg, Charles Wallace and the twins) are scientists who are researching Time and Space. Dr. Murray takes a time trip and so do the kids.

There is also magic; a trio of "witches" shows up--Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, and they take Meg, her brother Charles-Wallace, and their new friend Calvin on an epic adventure.

It's also the story of a family with a deep trouble who nonetheless stay together, the story of a young girl who is just coming into adolescence with all the awkwardness and confusing feelings, and the story of a special little boy who is thought to be retarded by townspeople.

The symbology L'Engel uses is powerful and original; a giant brain who seduces those around it into surrendering their free will as an ultimate dictator; a shadow-like smog around planets that represents the presence of Evil, and a special young boy who is more than a genius; who is "something new" who nonetheless can be tempted to his own destruction by vanity.

Wrinkle in Time has a lot of fertile subjects for discussions between parents and children about good, evil, how we treat each other, and the choices we make. Ms. L'Engel often uses moral themes in her books and this one contains excellent subjects for discussions about kindness, good, evil, God, and being different, and about the destructiveness of gossip.

Wrinke in Time is like the Potter books in that it is about boys and girls in a magical or fantasy setting. It is unlike the Potter books because it does not focus on wizardry as a craft. Instead it presents the universe as full of wonder, and united by a titanic struggle of Good against Evil.... Like the Potter books, there are sequels to Wrinkle in Time, and the story of the Murray kids continues. This was hands-down my favorite book as a child. I still have my copy almost 40 years later. Read more ›

169 of 187 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is amazing. May 5, 2007

By Loran

Format:Paperback

I read this book in about the 7th grade which was around four years ago. I loved this book when i read it. It combines fantasy and amazing writing into one book. I loved how Meg went to save her brother and father. This book is really truly amazing. When I review a book on amazon that i love, i like to look at the one star review and read why people did not like that certain book. I did the same with this book and learned that a lot of kids under the age of 13 were reading this book, and not enjoying it. They either said that they didn't understand it, and therefore it was boring, or that people can really tesser to another planet. If you do not understand a book, then you should put it down and read it a few years later. Those who stated that no one can really tesser to another planet or place are right, you can't, but this story is fiction, meaning it is not real.

thank you for your time
and i sincerely hope that
you read this book,
Loran

283 of 319 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars still terrific, but now I understand more November 18, 2000

By Orrin C. Judd VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The phenomenal success of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books (see Orrin's review)--the first two are currently both in the Top 10 of most Bestseller Lists--lead me to reread this Children's Classic, which was one of the big favorites of our generation. I must have read it around fifth grade--I imagine most every kid in America reads it at some point--and no one will be surprised to hear, it turns out I wasn't as smart as I thought I was when I was ten. Madeleine L'Engle managed to hoodwink me, but good. I thought this was just a great Science Fiction/Fantasy story, but now I discover that the whole book is a religious allegory.

Meg Murry and her brothers, Charles Wallace and the twins, live with their mother. Their Father has been missing for years, supposedly working on a top secret government project. Meg and Charles Wallace are strange children, noone seems to know quite whether they are idiots or geniuses. In short order they meet Calvin, a tall gangly boy, who also feels like a misfit and three women who have moved into an abandoned house in the neighborhood. The old women, Mrs. Whatsit , Mrs. Which & Mrs. Who, inform the children that Mr. Murry is in dire straits and needs their help. They travel through time and space via wrinkles, called tesseracts, to the planet Camazotz, where Mr. Murry has gone to battle the forces of darkness that are closing sections of the universe in shadow. There they battle the evil being known as IT, a disembodied brain who offers people complete security if they will only give up their freedom and their individuality, as have the inhabitants of Camazotz.

Most of the allegorical stuff is easy enough to see, the children can fight evil by finding The Father.... Meg despairs that evil is allowed to exist at all and blames her father, and so on. But I really liked the fact that L'Engle portrays Camazotz (or Hell) as a place where there is complete conformity and security, but no personal freedom. Personally, I believe that Camazotz closely resembles both a Socialist or Communist State and the Garden of Eden. Just as the great struggle of Ms L "Engle's time was the fight for freedom against the security of Socialism/Communism, Man chose to leave the security of a pastoral existence in the Garden and accept the vicissitudes of life without because we prefer freedom.

The book also contains one of the most beautiful descriptions of human life that I've ever heard. Mrs. Whatsit compares life to a sonnet:

It is a very strict form of poetry is it not?

There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. That's a very strict rhythm or meter, yes?

And each line has to end with a rigid rhyme pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet, is it?

Calvin: You mean you're comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it?

Yes. You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.

This book conveys a worthwhile religiopolitical lesson about the human condition and is great fun besides. I look forward to reading it with my kids.

GRADE: A+ Read more ›