When You Reach Me

"[W]hen all the sidewalk characters from Miranda's Manhattan world converge amid mind-blowing revelations and cunning details, teen readers will circle back to the beginning and say,'Wow ... cool.'" -- Kirkus Reviews

Stead, R. (2009). When you reach me . New York: Wendy Lamb Books.

Miranda and her best friend Sal have been walking the streets of New York City since they were young kids. Now, as sixth graders, they know where it's safe to walk and places they need to avoid. When Sal gets punched on the way home from school, he distances himself from Miranda. Left on her own, things start to unravel. The emergency key to her apartment is stolen, and she begins to receive anonymous letters. The letters inform her that in order to save Sal's life and the life of the writer, she must write him a letter. As more notes are discovered, Miranda realizes that the mysterious author knows everything about her life, even things that have yet to happen. Readers embark on a journey with Miranda as she tries to save Sal and the unknown writer.

Reading Level: 750L
Suggested Delivery: Small groups or independently

Electronic Resources:

Teaching Unit: This link will bring you to a webpage where you can purchase a CD containing an entire unit on When You Reach Me. The CD includes reading comprehension assessments, literature circle activities, board games, and vocabulary words. If you do not want to purchase the CD, you can download a preview of the materials to give you some ideas of how you can use the book in your classroom.

Reading Guide:  This teacher's edition reading guide gives you plenty of teaching ideas. It includes pre-reading activities, discussion questions, vocabulary words, and wrap-up activities. It also breaks the book up into chapters and has questions for each chapter. Because this is the teacher's edition, it has the answers to all activities, but students can be given student editions. This is a good reading guide because it asks several kinds of questions: literal, inferential, predictions, etc. It also has activities for students to complete before, during, and after reading.

Vocabulary: obstruct, omen, fundamental, scoured, dawning, doorman, "latchkey" kid

Reading Strategies:

• Before Reading: Discuss various genres of books. How do they differ. In particular, discuss what a mystery is. What makes a story a mystery? Have you read any mysteries before? How are they different from other genres?
• During Reading: As students progress through the book, have them write down things that Miranda does each day. Then have them write down things that they do everyday. Are there similarities/differences? Does the time we live in make a difference?
• After Reading: After reading the chapter about time travel, discuss the concept. Is it possible to time travel? Ask students to predict how time traveling will come into the plot of the book.

Inferential Comprehension: How does Miranda feel when she receives the letters? Explain. How would you feel if you received letters from a stranger who appeared to know everything about your life?