A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

[MrShorty]

This is another of those "I read it when I was in grade school, so I decided to read it again" books. Technically I didn't read it, we listened to it as a family on a recent road trip.

Brief plot summary: Meg and Charles Wallace meet Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which who take them on an interstellar adventure to find and rescue the chidren's father. They meet several interesting characters, eventually coming face to face with an evil force that controls the planet on which their father has been imprisoned.

This is an interesting story with some interesting themes in it. The children face questions around the battle between good and evil, the value of individuality, and the value of making your own decisions.

At one point, as IT talks about how, on Camazotz, no one has to suffer for their own bad decisions, because IT makes all the decisions. I asked my kids what that sounded like. My middle daughter responded that it kind of sounded like Satan's plan for us.

The book is targeting a younger audience, but, as with a lot of good children's books, I still found this book very enjoyable and thought provoking.

[talisyn]

I loooove this book! I think I'm almost getting my oldest daughter to read it. It's hard to know and talk about really really neat books with your children sometimes, because depending on mood mom can be awesome or mom can be *eye roll* lol.

[mordorbund]

I read it in my teens as well. At the time I was disappointed in the "love conquers all" ending, although I don't know that I would feel the same way now (maybe).

I liked the conversation with the blind angels about describing people. It took me a long time to understand how these beings are able to describe anything without resorting to physical descriptions. Once I got it though, I found the idea of character-based descriptions fascinating.

[Connie]

I agree. This is a really great book. I loved it. Now i'm thinking i might have to read it again. I don't recall the part mordorbund describes, but it sounds fascinating.