Week 6: A Wrinkle & Some Alcatraz

     I just finished A Wrinkle in Time last night. It was bothering me that I did not finish it in the the time frame that I allowed myself. I absolutely loved this book! It was unlike any other that I have read (I'm usually not the mystical, sc-fi type). However, this novel is wonderful and I can see why it has recieved the praise that it has!
This book is a great young adult book that deals with issues of accepting and loving yourself. Meg, the young protagonist, struggles with accepting herself. She feels out of place, ugly, and weird. When she, Calvin, and Charles Wallace set off on their wild adventure to safe her father, Meg realizes her strength and begins to love herself. A Wrinkle in Time addresses the point that beauty is "not the things seen, but the things unseen."
     When the children arrived on the planet of  Camazotz, the depiction of the world reminded me a lot of The Giver. The people who lived on this planet were very controlled and did not have the normal freedoms that we are used to. The sun did not shine, play time was scheduled, and the citizens had to follow "IT."
      This planet of  Camazotz was overtaken by the darkness, which is why goodness can not survive on the planet. There is so much that I could say about this novel. I loved the Biblical allusions and references, as well as the thought that we may not be alone in this universe. A "darkness" was trying to overtake Earth, which Mrs. Who, Whatsit, and Which explain as the reason why there is corruption on our planet.
     Meg, however, must go back to  Camazotz to save her baby brother, Charles Wallace. She is faced with evil, but realizes that her love for Charles conquers all. Evil cannot stand against love. This is a great book for students who struggle with loving themselves, as well as understanding that being different is good. Everyone has their own talents, passions, and strengths. Without all of our diverse personalities, the world would be like  Camazotz --dark and lifeless.

     On another note, I am about to begin reading Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. My 8th grade English teacher read this to my class seven years ago, and I remember liking it a lot. I'm excited to reread this book to discover what it was exactly that made this so interesting to me and to recieve a Newberry Honor award!

     I'm also still reading Something Blue (love it). It's such a nice break from these young adult books! Darcy has just revealed her cancelled marriage and is trying to come to terms with her decision. Griffith use of foreshadowing tells me that something is about to change drastically for Darcy, and her world will not be the same again...
Read A Wrinkle in Time for about 2.5 hours last night