Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Slick
It’s been a while since I’ve written. Really written. I did put out a little over 1200 words last Saturday, but the writing was pedestrian and reminded me of nothing so much as the stuff I cranked out back in 2001, when I first started. And even that was exceptional, since it’s 1200 words more than I’ve written on any given day for the last two years.
But I can still appreciate slick writing — at least I have that.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead: This is the book I turned to after finishing Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time — which was a fine read, but ultimately not very meaty. Rebecca Stead’s novel, on the other hand, has a similarly light touch, yet manages to weave a number of themes: the odd nature of childhood friendships, which can at once be superficial and miles-deep; the seemingly random cruelty of kids; the complexity of parent-child relationships. There’s even a little racism and class warfare stirred in, all in one skinny novel about time travel, The $10,000 Pyramid, and growing up in the 70s in New York City.
Miranda is a 12-year-old whose best friend Sal stops hanging out with her soon after he’s punched in the face and stomach by another kid. It’s easy for the reader to concoct theories to fit the data; perhaps Miranda reminds Sal of his humiliation, and that’s why he can’t tolerate her presence anymore? But this is a novel where little is as it seems, and while everything has a reason, the reader’s patience is rewarded only near the story’s end.
Soon after the punching incident, Miranda begins finding notes that are vaguely creepy and hint at a foreknowledge of the future. That the notes do, in a way, come from the future is hardly a spoiler; Miranda’s favorite book is Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time, and she and the other kids in the story expend some effort wrapping their heads around time travel concepts. The identity and purpose of the messenger is the true mystery, and for that we readers (and Miranda) must wait for the story to unfold.
Meanwhile, we’re treated to a realistic look at what it was like to be a grade-schooler in New York City in the late 70s, and yet this is not filler. What happens between Miranda and her friends is critical to the denouement.
And that’s all the review you get ‘cuz my brain is still not working well from the insomnia. It’s tough functioning on an average of four hours a night.
D.
