Donated in Memory of Theresa Dowd by Mary & Don Beaudin. Children's Literature:
Charmingly eccentric and impossible to categorize, this middle grade novel pays homage to Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time while employing many of that book's elements as it crisscrosses the boundaries between reality and fantasy, time travel and mystery. Three distinct storylines give the novel momentum: Miranda's mother's forthcoming contestant role on "The $20,000 Pyramid" game show, Miranda's friend Sal being punched by the erudite yet seemingly socially inept Marcus, and the homeless man whom Miranda and her friends dub "the laughing man." A host of secondary characters play significant roles as well. Stead completely nails both the endearing optimism of her pre-teen characters and their earnest attempts to make meaning of the world while achieving the perfect V-cut. The game show subplot is reflected in the book's chapter headings (e.g., "The Winner's Circle," "Things That Fall Apart," "Things You Realize"). The author plays with the construct of time throughout the novel, using letters that foretell the future, manipulating tense, and framing the entire novel as a second-person narrative in which Miranda is addressing the writer of the letters. If the text feels packed, it is?and nothing is wasted. The movement between the ordinary and the fantastic creates a kind of magical realism, in which the extraordinary is every bit as acceptable as the everyday. Amusing, bemusing and occasionally plain puzzling, this book works its way to a deliciously twisty ending. It is an interesting, multi-layered book that can be read and interpreted at many levels. Reviewer: Uma Krishnaswami