Like is Not Equal

Yes, I read A Widow for One Year, but no, I am not going to write about it until after the book club discusses it next month. Until then, we are going back to my youth for a classic of children’s lit and a particular favorite of mine.  

#33 – A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’Engle
Recommended by: EB

I loved this book as a kid. I loved it. I honestly believe that my lifelong love of redheads sprouts directly from my love for Calvin O’Keefe. I read this book, and others in the series so many times that it actually inspired a tattoo. I can’t tell you if it is good literature or bad sci-fi because it is just part of who I am and I can’t judge it in any quantifiable way. I can, however, say with certainty, that this book is odd. It moves very quickly and it has a religious side I never once noticed in childhood. The story of Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace, their newfound friend Calvin O’Keefe and their hunt for a long-lost father through planets shrouded in darkness is a relatively simple tale. Maybe I liked that Meg was loved for her faults, and in fact, those very faults are what save the day. Maybe I enjoyed that Meg was not always the heroine. Sometimes she had to reach for Calvin for comfort, but I loved (then and now) that she was her own imperfect person. It isn’t original to make love vanquish all, but this book might have been my first time really understanding what that meant. I’m glad I reread it and am just a little sad that my daughter wasn’t interested in it at all.