A Wrinkle in Time

I read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, which is the first book in this particular series. This book that is now famous in middle and high school classrooms reflects its excellence with the fact that it is a Newbery Award winner. A Wrinkle in Time follows Meg Murry and her brilliant, yet unconventional, family. Meg’s weird baby brother, Charles Wallace, forms some mysterious relationships with three old ladies down the road. Charles Wallace and Meg quickly find another friend in Calvin, an older boy from school who considers himself a misfit, like the Murry children, but who is viewed by everyone else as a superstar. 

A Wrinkle in Time is the story of the children’s journey to find Meg and Charles’ missing father, a scientist who has been out on a mysterious mission for years. They team up with Mrs. Which, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Whatsit, as well as many other creatures of the universe, to travel beyond the entire galaxy in just a short amount of time. Meg has a difficult time understanding everything that is happening. Unlike Charles Wallace, she is not so brilliant that she can basically read people’s minds. It takes her time to understand things, especially when she gets frustrated and upset when she is misunderstanding. A continuing theme throughout the story ties into a quote that says, “But you see, Meg, just because we don’t understand, doesn’t mean the explanation doesn’t exist.” This is something that all of the characters battle, but it takes a particular tole on Meg as she is trying to find all the right answers at all the right times and sometimes comes up short. 

The story continues as the children are left alone on the planet Camazotz to battle IT. No one knows exactly what IT is yet the children have to battle this thing in order to get their father back anyways.The only way these three young children can battle IT is by outsmarting it - a very difficult task to do - and finding the one thing that it does not have. This requires the children to look inside themselves for all the gifts they have been blessed with and acknowledge some things they would like to overlook. 

Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin all learn their individual lessons by traveling this journey. They are able to realize what their strengths and weaknesses are and how to use these things in their favor, regardless of the circumstance. Each one finds out what it truly means to love and it is expressed in many different ways throughout the text. The characters learn lessons they would have not otherwise learned while on Earth  because their extreme circumstances force them to reach outside of themselves and find a stronger person. A person who maybe, just maybe, can help save their dad.