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| Review Summary |
Meg Murry was a girl with a stubborn temper. It hindered her ability to do well in school, and all the other kids mocked her for it. But she was from an unusual family; both of her parents were scientists and her youngest brother has the ability to understand what Meg thinks before she even says it. Everyone in the town that she lives in is beginning to think that her father has died because he has not returned for several years from his top secret mission. Meg does not believe it, and neither does her mother.
Everything begins to change one night. A little old lady who has recently moved into the town stops at the Murry house to get out of the storm. This old lady drops a phrase that freezes up Mother: she says "tesseract." Because of Mother's reaction, Meg asks what it is and gets told to ask later, but the oppurtinity does not happen again. Charles, Meg's little brother, and Meg go out for a walk and meet a boy named Calvin when all three run into the old lady again who says that the time has come.
The children are told after they are taken that they are needed to save Mr. Murry. They discover that a darkness is beginning to cover planets and the children need to go through it to find Mr. Murry. Once the children arrive on the planet, they are given a warning to never separate. Although the children find Mr. Murry shortly, Charles is taken under control by the IT, and Mr. Murry tesseracts only Meg and Calvin leaving Charles on the dark planet. In the final chapters of the novel, Meg is given the mission to return to the planet and save Charles before time runs out.
Christopher, Resident Scholar
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A Wrinkle in Time is the story of Meg Murry, a high-school-aged girl who is transported on an adventure through time and space with her younger brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin O'Keefe to rescue her father, a gifted scientist, from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet. At the beginning of the book, Meg is homely, awkward, but loving girl, troubled by personal insecurities and her concern for her father, who has been missing for over a year. The plot begins with the arrival of Mrs. Whatsit at the Murry house on a dark and stormy evening. Although she looks like an eccentric tramp, she is actually a celestial creature with the ability to read Meg's thoughts. She startles Meg's mother by reassuming her of the existence of a tesseract – a sort of “wrinkle” in space and time. It is through this wrinkle that Meg and her companions will travel through the fifth dimension in search of Mr. Murry.
On the afternoon following Mrs. Whatsit's visit, Meg and Charles Wallace walk over to Mrs. Whatsit's cabin. On the way, they meet Calvin O'Keefe, a popular boy in Meg's school whom Charles considers a kindred spirit. The three children learn from Mrs. Whatsit and her friends Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which that the universe is threatened by a great evil called the Dark Thing and taking the form of a giant cloud, engulfing the stars around it. Several planets have already been attacked by this evil force, including Camazotz, the planet on which Mr. Murry is imprisoned.
The three Mrs. W's transport the children to Camazotz and instruct them to remain always in each other's company while on their quest for Mr. Murry. On Camazotz, all objects and places appear exactly alike because the whole planet must conform to the terrifying rhythmic pulsation of IT, a giant disembodied brain. Charles Wallace tries to fight IT with his exceptional intelligence but is overpowered by the evil and becomes a robot-like creature mouthing the words with which IT infuses him. Under the control of IT, Charles leads Meg and Calvin to Mr. Murry and together they confront IT. However, they, too, are unable to withstand IT's power; they escape only at the last minute, when Mr. Murry appears and seizes Meg and Calvin, "tessering" away with them (traveling via another tesseract) to a gray planet called Ixchel inhabited by tall, furry beasts who care for the travelers. Charles Wallace remains controlled by IT, a prisoner of Camazotz.
andrea hechanova, Resident Scholar
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Everyone in town thinks Meg Murry is volatile and dull-witted, and that her younger brother, Charles Wallace, is dumb. People are also saying that their physicist father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumors and an unearthly stranger, the tesseract-touting Mrs Whatsit, Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time.
Dune, Resident Scholar
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Meg and her brother Charles Wallace go on a hunt to find their father. The only thing is, he's in another dimension, inside a wrinkle in time. In this other dimension there is "IT", a brain that controls everyone. Meg, Charles Wallace, and their father must fight to overcome IT and return to their home.
Maya , Resident Scholar
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In this book Meg is trying to save her father. She also discovers a family secret in her journey.
Ericka , Resident Scholar
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In a "Wrinkle in Time" a girl learns to live with herself. In this process she makes new friends, finds her missing father, and finds out the world might not be quite what she thought. Her biggest discovery is that love conquers all.
Paravel Harfang, Resident Scholar
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A journey into space in a most un-ordinary way. Time travel by wrinkling time. The children must save their father, imprisoned on a planet in a different galaxy. They must overcome their own shortcomings & trust in love.
Corrie, Resident Scholar
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Charles and Meg Murry, both exceptional children, have a famous father who has disappeared. A physicist working for the government, his experiments with the fourth dimension (time) and fifth dimension (the tesseract) may have worked - or they may not have. Did he manage to fold time and space, or just obliterate himself? No-one seems to know. The children and their friend are offered the journey of a lifetime by beings not of this planet to find him and bring him back. An outstanding fantasy story, literary, scientific, and full of love all at once. A Wrinkle In Time won the Newbury Medal in 1962.
Michael JR Jose, Resident Scholar
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Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time portrays a group of children that survive hardships under a supreme being. The children begin their journey in search of their father who has found a way around the speed of light. It is a book that reminds of the love a family hold for one another!
Jessica, Resident Scholar
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Meg and Charles Wallace journey through space with their friend Calvin, to find their father, who disappeared while experimenting with fifth dimension time travel. With help from three unearthly women, the trio tries to rescue their father from IT, a terrible source of evil.
Panyang, Resident Scholar
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 40%
Tone of book
- very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story
Yes
Plotlets:
- dimension travel
Spying & Investigations
Yes
What is main char. doing?
- rescue mission/escape from confinement
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Kid's book (ages 7-14)
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Main Adversary
Identity:
- An "It".
Has magical powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- mind reading
- mind control
- can read emotions
Eccentric:
Yes
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Genius (really!)
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body:
- humans in a futuristic society
- very controlled society
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Planet outside solar system?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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