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A Wrinkle in Time by [Madeleine L'Engle]

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Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time Kindle Edition

by Madeleine L'Engle (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Book 1 of 5: A Wrinkle in Time

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Madeleine L'Engle's ground-breaking science fiction and fantasy classic, now a major motion picture.

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

A Wrinkle in Time is the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal. It is the first book in The Time Quintet, which consists of A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time.

A Wrinkle in Time is now a movie from Disney, directed by Ava DuVernay, starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.

This title has Common Core connections.

Books by Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time Quintet
A Wrinkle in Time
A Wind in the Door
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Many Waters
An Acceptable Time

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Madeleine L'Engle; adapted & illustrated by Hope Larson

Intergalactic P.S. 3 by Madeleine L'Engle; illustrated by Hope Larson: A standalone story set in the world of A Wrinkle in Time.

The Austin Family Chronicles
Meet the Austins (Volume 1)
The Moon by Night (Volume 2)
The Young Unicorns (Volume 3)
A Ring of Endless Light (Volume 4) A Newbery Honor book!
Troubling a Star (Volume 5)

The Polly O'Keefe books
The Arm of the Starfish
Dragons in the Waters
A House Like a Lotus

And Both Were Young

Camilla

The Joys of Love

Reading age

9 - 12 years, from customers
Print length

228 pages
Language

English
Grade level

6 - 9
Lexile measure

740L
Publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Publication date

April 1, 2010
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ISBN-10

9781429915649
ISBN-13

978-0312367558
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Popular Highlights in this book

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But of course we can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.
Highlighted by 5,744 Kindle readers
“We look not at the things which are what you would call seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. But the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Highlighted by 5,228 Kindle readers

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

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 Ss, and the mass market edition covers are illustrated by renowned science fiction and fantasy illustrator Cliff Nielsen.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Amazon.com Review

Everyone in town thinks Meg is volatile and dull-witted and that her younger brother Charles Wallace is dumb. People are also saying that their father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumors, Meg and Charles Wallace, along with their new friend Calvin, 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.

Young people who have trouble finding their place in the world will connect with the "misfit" characters in this provocative story. 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 into their characters to find answers.

A classic since 1962, 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 power of good over evil. (Ages 9 to 12)

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

Read by the author
Four cassettes / 5 hours 45 mins.

Father is missing! His top secret job as a physicist for the government has taken him away--but where?--and how? Meg and her younger brother, Charles Wallace, set out with their friend Calvin on an exciting adventure through time and space to search for him. With the help of the mysterious Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, the youngsters learn to expect the unexpected as they move in the fifth dimension known as the "tesseract".

With this award-winning story, Madeline L'Engle has captivated millions of readers throughout the world. Her universal themes of courage, perseverance, and love are interwoven with imagination and suspense. A Wrinkle in Time, published in 1962, won the distinguished Newbery Medal for children's literature in 1963. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

"...listeners will still be entranced by this imagination-stretching modern classic." -- Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) was the Newbery Medal-winning author of more than 60 books, including the much-loved A Wrinkle in Time. Born in 1918, L'Engle grew up in New York City, Switzerland, South Carolina and Massachusetts. Her father was a reporter and her mother had studied to be a pianist, and their house was always full of musicians and theater people. L'Engle graduated cum laude from Smith College, then returned to New York to work in the theater. While touring with a play, she wrote her first book, The Small Rain, originally published in 1945. She met her future husband, Hugh Franklin, when they both appeared in The Cherry Orchard. Upon becoming Mrs. Franklin, L'Engle gave up the stage in favor of the typewriter. In the years her three children were growing up, she wrote four more novels. Hugh Franklin temporarily retired from the theater, and the family moved to western Connecticut and for ten years ran a general store. Her book Meet the Austins, an American Library Association Notable Children's Book of 1960, was based on this experience. Her science fantasy classic A Wrinkle in Time was awarded the 1963 Newbery Medal. Two companion novels, A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet (a Newbery Honor book), complete what has come to be known as The Time Trilogy, a series that continues to grow in popularity with a new generation of readers. Her 1980 book A Ring of Endless Light won the Newbery Honor. L'Engle passed away in 2007 in Litchfield, Connecticut. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

“Yoo's cover art is enchanting.” ―Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (blog)

“A coming of age fantasy story that sympathizes with typical teen girl awkwardness and insecurity, highlighting courage, resourcefulness and the importance of famiyl ties as key to overcoming them.” ―Carol Platt Liebau, author, in the New York Post

“An exhilarating experience.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“This imaginative book will be read for a long time into the future.” ―Children's Literature

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the New Introduction
A Stardust Journey with A Wrinkle in Time
By Lisa Sonne

A Wrinkle in Time was written before any human had walked on the moon or sent rovers to Mars. It was a time before cell phones and personal computers, before digital cameras, CDs, and DVDs, before the fiction of Star Trek, Star Wars, and The Matrix, and before the realities of the space shuttle, the Mir space station, and the International Space Station. Science has changed dramatically as generations of children and adults have read the book since it was first published in 1962. Those scientific advances make Madeleine L’Engle’s story even more compelling.
The author of A Wrinkle in Time is a tall woman who sometimes wears a purple cape. She will tell you that she is completely made of stardust and always has been. No kidding. “You are made of stardust, too,” she will add with a twinkle in her eye.
This is not the wild imagination of a creative writer’s mind. We are all made of stardust. Our little molecules are the leftovers of big stars that exploded eons ago. Mrs. Whatsit may be a fanciful character who gave up her life as a star to fight the darkness, but we are real creatures who really are made of the cosmic dust of supernovas. When giant stars explode, they send their matter out into the universe and enrich all the yet-to-be-born stars and planets with the chemical ingredients that make up life as we know it. Astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson says, “It’s a profound, underappreciated truth.”
Stardust is just one way that Madeleine L’Engle mixes fact and fantasy to inspire you to want to know more about science. With knowledge come more questions. With imagination comes more curiosity. With searching comes more truth. That blend is a specialty of L’Engle’s.
Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin visit different planets outside our solar system. When A Wrinkle in Time wasfirst printed in 1962, scientists could confirm the existence of only nine planets–all of them orbiting our sun. Since 1995, astronomers have been finding planets at an average rate of one a month–all outside our solar system.
Throughout A Wrinkle in Time, the universe is in a struggle with the Black Thing. L’Engle wrote of the Black Thing before astronomers found black holes, which suck up everything around them, and long before scientists announced that almost all of our universe is composed of invisible “dark matter” and “dark energy,” which science knows almost nothing about.
In the thin atmosphere of Uriel, Meg has to breathe from a flower to stay alive. In reality, we all breathe plants to stay alive. NASA conducts experiments to see how plants could help keep astronauts alive when they travel in space and live on other planets.
In A Wrinkle in Time, we meet thinking aliens in outer space, including Aunt Beast, the Man with Red Eyes, and Mrs. Who. Since 1962, explorers have gone to remote spots on our planet, studying “extremophile” life to learn more about what life out there in space might really be like.
Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin travel through multiple dimensions. When A Wrinkle in Time first appeared, science recognized only four dimensions–three of space and one of time. Now mathematicians claim that at least nine spatial dimensions are needed to explain our physical world–maybe ten. Maybe more.
Just looking at how technology and science have changed since Meg’s first adventure was printed is a kind of time travel in your mind that shows how much science and math have grown, and how much they still need to grow. When Meg’s father urges her to name the elements of the periodic table to escape the dark forces of IT, she begins reciting, “Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine . . .” and continues. Only 103 elements were known in 1962. In 2004, to finish reciting the elements on the periodic table, Meg would need to add more tongue-twisters, such as rutherfordium, meitnerium, darmstadtium, and roentgenium (element number 111). New elements are still being discovered, created, and debated.
Scientists and astronauts are delving further into the tiny world of microorganisms that Meg’s mother studied, and further into the giant realms that Meg’s father traveled in. Since 1962, scientists have discovered quarks and quasars, things smaller and bigger than ever known before–smaller than a proton in an atom and larger than a galaxy. What next?
“Students can get so bombarded in science classes and think that all is known. It’s not. A book like this can help them realize that we know some things, but really very, very little. And maybe a lot of what we know now is not right!” says Shannon Lucid, a science fiction reader and astronaut who has spent more time in space than any other woman. There are still big unanswered questions and great quests yet to begin.
For Madeleine L’Engle, every good story and every good life is a search for answers through fiction, fact, and spirit. The poet, the physicist, and the prophet are all searching to understand the dimensions we can’t see, whether gravity, time, or love. A Wrinkle in Time is a great journey through dimensions–a journey of exploration and discovery, curiosity and awe.

From A Wrinkle In TIme
"Now, don't be frightened, loves," Mrs. Whatsit said. Her plump little body began to shimmer, to quiver, to shift. The wild colors of her clothes became muted, whitened. The pudding-bag shape stretched, lengthened, merged. And suddenly before the children was a creature more beautiful than any Meg had even imagined, and the beauty lay in far more than the outward description. Outwardly Mrs. Whatsit was surely no longer a Mrs. Whatsit. She was a marble-white body with powerful flanks, something like a horse but at the same time completely unlike a horse, for from the magnificently modeled back sprang a nobly formed torso, arms, and a head resembling a man's, but a man with a perfection of dignity and virtue, an exaltation of joy such as Meg had never before seen. No, she thought, it's not like a Greek centaur. Not in the least.

From the shoulders slowly a pair of wings unfolded, wings made of rainbows, of light upon water, of poetry.

Calvin fell to his knees.

"No," Mrs. Whatsit said, though her voice was not Mrs. Whatsit's voice. "Not to me, Calvin. Never to me. Stand up."

"Ccarrry themm," Mrs. Which commanded.

With a gesture both delicate and strong Mrs. Whatsit knelt in front of the children, stretching her wings wide and holding them steady, but quivering. "Onto my back, now," the new voice said.

The children took hesitant steps toward the beautiful creature.

From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"One of America’s most beloved stories." ―Andrew Liptak in Kirkus

“A coming of age fantasy story that sympathizes with typical teen girl awkwardness and insecurity, highlighting courage, resourcefulness and the importance of family ties as key to overcoming them.” ―Carol Platt Liebau, author, in the New York Post

“An exhilarating experience.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“This imaginative book will be read for a long time into the future.” ―Children's Literature

“A Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorite books of all time. I've read it so often, I know it by heart. Meg Murry was my hero growing up. I wanted glasses and braces and my parents to stick me in an attic bedroom. And I so wanted to save Charles Wallace from IT.” ―Meg Cabot

“A book that every young person should read, a book that provides a road map for seeking knowledge and compassion even at the worst of times, a book to make the world a better place.” ―Cory Doctorow

“[L'Engle's] work is one of the things that made me a writer, a science fiction and fantasy fan, an avid reader. Hers were the first books I read that mixed math and magic, the quest and the quantum.” ―Scott Westerfeld

“A Wrinkle in Time taught me that you can tackle even the deepest and most slippery concepts of physics and philosophy in fiction for young readers. It's a great lesson for all writers, and a tough tesseract to follow.” ―David Lubar

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004OA64H0
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (April 1, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 1, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1148 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 228 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #1,915 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1 in Teen & Young Adult Time Travel eBooks
- #1 in Children's Time Travel Books
- #2 in Teen & Young Adult Time Travel Fiction

Customer Reviews:
12,252 ratings

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Madeleine L'Engle

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Madeleine was born on November 29th, 1918, and spent her formative years in New York City. Instead of her school work, she found that she would much rather be writing stories, poems and journals for herself, which was reflected in her grades (not the best). However, she was not discouraged.

At age 12, she moved to the French Alps with her parents and went to an English boarding school where, thankfully, her passion for writing continued to grow. She flourished during her high school years back in the United States at Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, vacationing with her mother in a rambling old beach cottage on a beautiful stretch of Florida Beach.

She went to Smith College and studied English with some wonderful teachers as she read the classics and continued her own creative writing. She graduated with honors and moved into a Greenwich Village apartment in New York. She worked in the theater, where Equity union pay and a flexible schedule afforded her the time to write! She published her first two novels during these years—A Small Rain and Ilsa—before meeting Hugh Franklin, her future husband, when she was an understudy in Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard. They married during The Joyous Season.

She had a baby girl and kept on writing, eventually moving to Connecticut to raise the family away from the city in a small dairy farm village with more cows than people. They bought a dead general store, and brought it to life for 9 years. They moved back to the city with three children, and Hugh revitalized his professional acting career.

As the years passed and the children grew, Madeleine continued to write and Hugh to act, and they to enjoy each other and life. Madeleine began her association with the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, where she was the librarian and maintained an office for more than thirty years. After Hugh’s death in 1986, it was her writing and lecturing that kept her going. She lived through the 20th century and into the 21st and wrote over 60 books. She enjoyed being with her friends, her children, her grandchildren, and her great grandchildren.

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DF

This is a great book for middle schoolers

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2017

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This is a great book for middle schoolers. I am reading it with my child. Great imagery. Excellent book to teach figurative language and a fun read. My child asks for our reading time together. If you start reading early with your child, they never get to old for it. He loves, even at 12, for you read a chapter, I read a chapter every night time. This has led to some deep conversations and has increased his ability to read dramatically and fluently. I encourage all parents to do this. One way or another, this is a great book for 5-7 graders.

187 people found this helpful

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Georzetta

A Must Read for Every Young Woman

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2016

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This was the pivotal book of my early adolescence and is still a touchstone for me as an adult. No other book has had such a profound effect on my thinking, personality, spirituality, and character. I should clarify that I didn't then and don't now share her Christian interpretation of the universe which many people consider to be the essence of this book and much of her writing. For me, this book reminded me to say yes to life, to accept responsibility, to be brave even when frightened, not to make decisions based on fear, and to accept people as they are. The lessons that I learned from this book have seen me through some very difficult episodes. She gave me the strength to do what was right even when that action was dangerous. I found this book when I was 12. I will be 59 next month and I still read it once or twice a year. I am convinced that it is partly responsible for my still be here.

539 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

A revisit

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2017

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There are no words for a sublime emotional experience. Suffice it to say that I am so grateful to have been allowed enough time on the planet to do a reread of a childhood favorite from at least a 50 year life time ago perspective. The book instantly connected me to the girl I was and gave me an understanding of why science fiction became my most favorite comfort read for so far all of my life. A Wrinle in Time was my first ever trip into this genre , and what a fantastic trip it was!

122 people found this helpful

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Imaginative Story with Religious Undertones

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2018

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Meg and her little brother, Charles, wonder what happened to their father, a scientist working for the government who has been missing for several years. When a strange old lady shows up at their door, the adventure to find him begins. The old lady and two more of her odd friends lead them out of the universe into the worlds of some strange planets that are under the influence of the horrible, shadowy IT.

A Wrinkle in Time is both a sci-fi story and a coming of age story. Meg, an awkward and insecure girl finds the courage and resourcefulness to overcome IT and save her father and brother. She also learns about the importance of family and love. While the character growth of Meg is nice, at times it seems a little contrived. One minute she's on the brink of death under the grip of IT, and the next, she's ready to face IT because she knows that it's something only she can do. It's also not very clear why little Charles, who has the vocabulary of a Harvard graduate, is so special. Some of the characters could have benefited from more development. Throughout the story there are references to Christianity: quotes from scripture, mention of guardian angels, and the idea that God is in charge of everything. This gives the story a "Chronicles of Narnia" kind of feel.

Overall, the story is very good, and one that would appeal to middle grade readers who enjoy sci-fi/fantasy books.

85 people found this helpful

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Laura's Reviews

A Great Unique Story!

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2018

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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.

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!

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

21 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Umut Rados

A book for all ages

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 17, 2018

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If I need to define A Wrinkle In Time in one sentence, it is a book for all times and for all ages. That’s why it’s a multiple award winner classic, and it was nothing less than my expectations.
L’engle was inspired from Einstein’s theories in this book, and I’m not even sure I understand everything as an adult 🙂 It’s full of beautiful quotes, anecdotes, metaphors that elevates the book to another level than being a simple children’s novel. Meg, as a character, is layered and complex. When asked, L’engle if Meg is her, she says ‘of course’ 🙂
The evil is so realistic and scary. The atmosphere is very vividly dark. I loved how she displayed the battle between good and bad. My only criticism is, I felt the end was very rushed compared to the build up.

18 people found this helpful

A. Customer

I read this because it's meant to be a classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2020

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At the back of the book is an interview with the author's granddaughter in which a publisher's reader comments 'I think this is the worst book I have ever read.' Well, I couldn't agree more.

It's not just because it's dated. The characters are nauseatingly prim and precocious, the 'magical' characters are, frankly, boring, and the the whole thing is a horrible and confusing mishmash of bad sci-fi, yawnworthy witches and mawkish religion. I shouted out loud a lot as I read this.

A few of the central ideas feel a bit too similar to C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy series for my liking - for example, the severed head of Alcasan in That Hideous Strength is a mouthpiece for the evil alien Eldila, just like the throbbing brain is a mouthpiece for 'It' in A Wrinkle in Time. (By the way, the three Space Trilogy novels are far from the best thing Lewis ever wrote).

I'd happily give this zero points. Makes me mad this book still in circulation when I see so many talented authors out there these days who can't get a break. It's mystifying how this was ever made into a film.

5 people found this helpful

Samantha G

Wonderful Classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2018

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Love - that is the main message of this book. Its complicated, and fragile. Its never simple. Meg the main protagonist is a girl who is different who doesn't quite fit in. The same can be said for Calvin and Charles. Yet all of them are beautiful people with deep flaws that you cannot help but like.
This is a strange, mysterious story which is also deeply spiritual. Yes, there is a Christian message but it is a message that all of us can understand. The darkness they face is so complete, Meg learns to both rely on others and battle alone.
Being different is what makes these characters. it is what makes us humans. And this book may just heal a little bit of IT inside us all. Our weaknesses can often be our strength.
A fight between good and evil that can be enjoyed by all ages. It carries with a strong positive message.

4 people found this helpful

Hannah

A brilliant, heartfelt story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2018

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I bought this book knowing nothing about the story as it was recommended by a friend and was pleasantly surprised - I read it in one sitting over 3 hours or so and once I’d finished, I sat wishing I could read it again for the first time!

While the story is relatively short and the writing style is simplistic at times, it isn’t at all dull to read - it’s relaxing and suitable for a wide audience (probably from around 11 upwards) and the characters (especially meg!) are relatable and appealing without being flawless

I would describe the story as rather whimsical fantasy (it reminded me of a ghibli film in places) but not in a way that could put off older readers.

Overall, a brilliant story and definitely worth the price!

7 people found this helpful

John Hopper

intelligent blend of fantasy, SF and philosophy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2018

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This is another fantasy novel for older children published in the early 1960s, though unlike the Alan Garner novel I read just before this, this one contains much more of a mixture of fantasy and science fiction ideas. Meg and her brother Charles Wallace and another boy Calvin meet three mysterious "witches" who go by the delightful names of Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which. In search of Meg and Charles's father, who disappeared a year ago while supposedly carrying out top secret government work, the children are then whisked off through the eponymous medium to another planet threatened by a mysterious dark force which also threatens the Earth. However, most of the action takes place on the planet Camazotz, ruled over by a disembodied brain which enforces total uniformity on its inhabitants in the name of guaranteeing order and happiness, which is quite a stark idea, opening up readers' minds to concepts of personal freedom and the potential price that can be paid for order and happiness (or at least, as here, an absence of unhappiness or pain, which is not the same thing at all). The children's characters are quite clearly delineated and more three dimensional than many child central characters in young people's literature. The ending was rather abrupt, though I understand the author went to write a quintet of these novels.

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