when you reach me by rebecca stead summary

She tries to help classmates and extends a peace offering to Julia, a classmate she has resented for much of middle school. When school returns from winter break, Miranda is determined to show a new, more outwardly friendly side of herself. Miranda becomes convinced that the mysterious letter writer can see the future, but she doesn’t understand how this can be possible. She discovers a third note tucked into her pocket in December. This letter is tucked away in a bag of bread in the sandwich shop where Miranda works, and it addresses Miranda by name. The second note arrives later in the fall. The unknown writer addresses Miranda as simply M and asks her to write a letter.

Miranda receives the first mysterious note in the fall. She also takes on an unpaid job at the local sandwich shop where she spends time with Annemarie and Colin, a boy she begins to have a crush on as the story progresses. Miranda is confused and saddened, so she begins spending time with Annemarie, another girl from school. After Marcus, a local boy from their school, punches Sal in the street, Sal stops spending time with Miranda completely.

Miranda’s narrative takes readers back to the beginning of the school year as she explains the events leading to her friend Sal’s life being saved.Īt the beginning of the school year, Miranda’s best friend Sal begins pulling away from her. These cryptic notes indicate that the writer is trying to help save the life of Miranda’s best friend. Miranda has been receiving mysterious notes from an unknown writer for some time.

Miranda isn’t entirely surprised, though, because she received a mysterious note months before warning her that April 27 would be a significant date. Miranda Sinclair, the narrator, explains that her mother has been selected as a contestant for the show.

Themes of time travel and coming of age converge as Miranda solves the mystery and grows into a more comfortable and confident version of herself.Ĭhapter 1 takes place three weeks before April 27, 1979, in New York City, where Dick Clark’s hit game show The $20,000 Pyramid is filmed. The story follows the adventures of Miranda Sinclair, a 12-year-old female protagonist who tries to solve the mystery of who might be coming to save her best friend’s life.

When you reach me by rebecca stead summary