A Wrinkle in Time - Review

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Rating: Very Good

Source: Library (audio)
Description:  It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.  "Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them, "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course.  Let me be on my way.  Speaking of way, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract".  Meg's father had been experimenting with this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared.  Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin and Charles Wallace to rescue him.  But can they outwit the forces of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space? (from Goodreads)

Genre: Children's - Middle Grade, Science Fiction

Why I Picked This Book:  I remember loving this book as a child but I found I remembered almost nothing about it.  I had some time open up on my audio schedule and I couldn't resist revisiting this book.

My Impression: I remember loving this book in childhood.  I remember exactly where the book was located in the library and what the cover looked like and that about sums it up!  Rereading it as an adult was fascinating on multiple levels.  I'm surprised that I loved it so much - not because it isn't interesting and well written but because it's so different.  In some ways it is similar to the adventure stories that I adored but it is most definitely science fiction which has never been a genre I've really read much of so it surprises me how much I enjoyed this as a kid.

The book itself is definitely different.  I've found that main characters in Middle Grade adventure stories tend to be perpetually cheerful resilient and mature children.  Meg Murray is none of those things.  She's angry, she holds grudges, she complains, and she is most definitely her age.  The other characters - Charles Wallace and Cal - are not as well developed but are still unusual.  That's all before we meet Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which and step through the wrinkle in time.  

From there the adventure expands over time and space.  I did lose thread of the story a time or two and had to back track but I think that may have been because I was listening to this on audio and I think print might have worked  a little better.  As for the adventure itself it's something better read about than discussed.  And since my reading of science fiction is fairly limited I can't really compare it to other books of the genre.  

I can say that I really enjoyed this revisit to L'Engles' universe and I'd really like to continue with the series.  

I listened to audio book and while the narrator, Hope Davis, did a good job I'm not sure the book itself works perfectly as an audio.  I think I might read the next book to see if it's easier to keep track of all the details.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely.  I don't think I was aware when I first read it that this was the first book in a series.  I'd like to see what happens next with these characters.

Would I Recommend this Book?: I would.  It wasn't what I expected given my usual reading but it was interesting and worth the read.