A Wrinkle in Time

Today, I started reading A Wrinkle in Time. Honestly, the only reason I picked it up was because I've been home sick since Wednesday and I needed to catch up on the reading I knew I'd missed on Thursday and Friday. I dug through my library until I was tired of searching. I was tired and sick, so I told myself I'd grin and bear whatever book I finally selected. After I got into it, though, I realized that it has the potential to be my favorite book ever. For this entry, I'm just going to discuss the characters and what I've read so far.

The main characters are named Meg, Charles Wallace, Calvin, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. I've read up to page 97, and so far the characters are really interesting me. My favorites, however, are clearly Meg and Charles Wallace. At school, Meg is that weird, unattractive, friendless girl with the weird family that one often finds in fiction. She is very similar to Meg Griffin from the television show Family Guy. Charles Wallace--and no, Wallace isn't his last name-- is known as the weird girl's equally strange brother who never learned to talk. However, Charles Wallace won't start school until the following year so no one knows the truth: this kid is brilliant. He can read and write things even his mom doesn't understand, and his mom is a successful scientist.

The basis of the plot is that the children's father is gone; no one really knows where. The family expects his return, but his absence without plausible explanation causes a stir of rumors around town. One day, Charles Wallace wanders off the family's secluded ranch to a house a few miles away. No one knows about this until a few days later, when a woman is found hiding in their basement in the middle of the night. The woman is an old, shriveled-up thing wrapped in coats and scarves. When Charles Wallace, Meg, and their mother find her while having a midnight snack, the boy says, "Mrs. Whatsit! What are you doing here?" The story continues with Charles Wallace, Meg, and another boy being twirled through time and space to the "5th dimension" led by Mrs. Whatsit and two of her friends. They are told that their father is exploring the dimension but is trapped in a mysterious void. The story is tackling many themes such as the relationship between space and time, and the eternal quality of love and loyalty.

To conclude, so far this is a spectacular book that never loses the reader's interest. I'm excited to continue reading.