Science Fiction & Mystery

When You Reach Me

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. 240p. 2010. Tr. $8.99. ISBN 9780375850868.

Time travel is a tricky thing, especially for a young girl from 1979 to understand. Amidst conflicts with her best friend Sal, her efforts to become more outgoing and friendly, and her mother's preparation for her appearance on the game show $20,000 Pyramid, Miranda keeps receiving notes with information and messages that only someone from the future could have written. If this weren't bewildering enough, the notes ask for Miranda's help in saving her best friend's life.

While science fiction elements play a major role in the story, they do not overshadow the novel's theme of friendship. Miranda's efforts to hold onto her old friends while branching out and making new friends is still a major focus of the story. If anything, the notes from the future help show Miranda's dedication to her friends. While she is initially confused and skeptical, Miranda follows the instructions from the mysterious notes because she wants to protect Sal.

The revelation at the end of the novel that the Laughing Man was really Marcus from the future, the author of the mysterious notes, puts Stead's elements of science fiction on full display. The reader is able to better understand the cryptic language of the notes as well as get an idea of how traveling through time effects the mind. Knowing that the future version of Marcus is the seemingly crazy man that laughs and yells for no reason gives context to the first note Miranda received, "The trip is a difficult one. I will not be myself when I reach you." 

Three Times Lucky

Turnage, Shelia. Three Times Lucky. 312p. 2013. Tr. $9.99. ISBN 9780142426050.

Three Times Lucky follows the life of rising 6th grader Moses "Mo" LoBeau. Mo is many things: a daughter to her adoptive parents Miss Lana and the Colonel, a best friend to Dale, an employee of her parent's beloved cafe, and an amateur detective. As trouble comes to her small North Carolina town of Tupelo Landing, Mo's detective skills are put to the test as those she loves are put in harms way. With her best friend by her side, Mo must crack the case of Mr. Jesse's murder, and his connection to the mysterious Slate, before it is too late. 

Turnage's fast-paced plot and ongoing action holds the reader's interest until the very end. As more and more mysteries present themselves, the reader gets to work alongside Mo to uncover the secrets of the quiet and unsuspecting Tupelo Landing.