“A Wrinkle in Time” is a classic science fiction fantasy children’s novel written by Madeline L’Engle published in 1962. It features an awkward flawed teenage girl, Meg, whose father, a government scientist, has gone missing. She, her little brother Charles Wallace, and a boy from school, Carl, go on an adventure to find him. With the help of Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which they find there is much more at stake and that her father is in great danger from the Black Thing and IT.
This has and always will be one of my favorite novels. I remember it was read aloud to us by my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Stanley. The description of traveling through different dimensions sparked my imagination and I role played Tessaring incessantly at home. It wasn’t until I read it recently that I realized that the deeper meaning of the book had stuck with me all these years.
My view of the world is made up of things I have learned from my mother and from my father. But there is this other set of beliefs that I developed outside of my parents that were incredibly strong and I could not remember how I came by them. It was when I read “A Wrinkle in Time” that I knew definitively that this was the book that defined the way I looked at the world.
I learned there is a purpose for everyone and we choose how we go about implementing that purpose. I learned that there is a shadow over the world and that we must be aware of its influence. I learned that things on the surface aren’t always what they appear to be. I learned that too much conformity is a bad thing. I learned that our faults can oftentimes be our greatest strength, and that love is the greatest power of all.
To think, that publishers rejected her novel because it was too complicated for children to understand. I understood it at the age of nine, and it had such a profound impact that as an adult I still adhere to its principles.
Even though this is not a new novel or the latest and the greatest out there, I feel the need to bring back the classics. This is a classic, one of those enduring stories that stand the test of time and capture the imagination of children generation after generation. If you have never had the opportunity to read it, do so. Read it with your child, discover it together.
A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle
Publisher: Square Fish
Pages: 256
ISBN: 978-0312367541
Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
Price: $6.99 Paperback @ Amazon.com
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