"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle

Review by Madeline Salmon
This was my third time reading Madeleine L'Engle's classic story of interplanetary adventure. I picked it up again because I was going to see a stage production of A Wrinkle in Time and I thought it would be fun to compare the book to the play. Oddly enough I didn't read it for the first time until I was 16, which is beyond its target age group. Even in the height of my snotty, incredulous teenage years, it enthralled me, as it still does today.

 I have heard the story described by someone who didn't much like it as L'Engle throwing every sci-fi/fantasy idea that struck her fancy into a microwave and zapping it into a book. I actually buy that description. On the quest for their missing father, Meg and Charles Wallace, along with their friend Calvin, encounter bizarre but friendly aliens, stars with souls, and the haunting villain IT. IT is remarkably simple in ITs form and what IT means to accomplish, but IT never fails to creep me out. (Aren't you getting a little nervous just reading about IT?)

I will admit that L'Engle--who is possibly my favorite author--has her flaws, and the Time series is actually not my favorite of hers (I prefer the Austin series). But I admire A Wrinkle in Time tremendously. I rarely reread books. The fact that I've read it three times and have been on the edge of my seat each time says a lot. She really does weave a crazy story together and make it work.

The main element I love is L'Engle's characterizations. Meg, the protagonist, is a prime example. There is nothing lovable about Meg. She's whiny, short-tempered, and not even pretty (or at least she doesn't think so). You get the impression that she'd be just fine when she's at her best, but you only ever see her in dicey situations, when she's sad and afraid. But in spite of all this, even though Meg is decidedly not lovable, we love her. L'Engle crafts her characters so well that they are supremely real--albeit infinitely quirky--and we love them for their gifts and their flaws. And it turns out that love just might be what can save them from the clutches of IT.