It seems like lately there are a lot of themes I could be using to guide my posts — the passing #WyrdAndWonder, the upcoming #JurassicJune, and the recently announced Hugo finalists all come to mind — so naturally I end up posting about something which has next to nothing to do with any of those things: Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.

I must admit, this is not the first time I’ve read this book although my last read through was not during the formative ages between 8 and 14 for which this book is purportedly written, but during the slightly less important age of 26. Yes, somehow I missed this book as kid, and found myself scrambling to “get with it” in advance of when the 2018 film adaptation finally came to theaters. It seemed this book had been a big influence on my friends, and I felt a bit of an odd ball for never having read it although it was well within my supposed favorite genre.

I can’t really know exactly what I thought of it back in 2017 (a scant year for blogging here on A&A), however I don’t think I was particularly impressed. And all I remembered about the experience approaching my read through now in 2025, is that I had been quite unsettled during Meg and the gang’s trip through suburbia on Camazotz (a scene which was equally unsettling today).

My read through this time was much more enjoyable and I think I have some inkling of why this book is so highly regarded by critics (it won the Newbery Medal in 1963), and such a treasured piece of so many people’s childhoods.

Despite just over 60 years of science fiction and fantasy to come following in Wrinkle‘s footsteps, I can hardly say I’ve read a story which displays such imagination and beauty in its prose and imagery. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Who are unfathomable in their age, power, and intentions, and yet we can understand them. “IT” and the “dark” planets are hardly knowable, and yet we know that they are evil. The way these concepts are delt with and portrayed never feels patronizing or cliched, just genuine as if Meg (and L’Engle) are reaching beyond the limits of the routine, and struggling to translate what they find (not unlike Charles Walace in some scenes as well).

Of course there is some pretty heavy messaging present throughout this book, most of which seems firmly rooted in religion, and yet transcending it as well. There is a lot of references to God, and guardian angels, and yet the way they are written about walks a fine line between their more literal connotations, and just terms we use to grasp at concepts we cannot understand to describe a general battle of good vs. evil, light vs. dark.

I mentioned the suburban landscape which so affected me during my original read-through, and I bring it up again because I think it is a scene which leads to the book’s most important messaging regarding equality. There are several points in the novel in which Meg essentially fights the concept of conformity, and comes to the realization that “like” and “equal” are not the same thing, with “likeness” marking an absence of agency in the face of conformity.

This of course echoes much the rhetoric of the civil rights movement, and feels an especially important message today with the debates surrounding DEI etc.

Of course there were a few things I didn’t really enjoy about the book as well. Charles Wallace is just an unsettling character to me. A Wrinkle in Time is unapologetically complex in its themes and concepts (gulp and vocabulary), and much like Ender’s Game, is written specifically to challenge how we conceive of what is appropriate for younger readers (both of these books are often challenged/banned). Spoiler alert, they can handle much more then we give them credit for.

And yet Charles Wallace just seemed a little too unbelievable for me. That someone at five years old would speak and act the way he does just never quite landed, despite my knowing the deliberateness of the way he was written, and how it tied in with the larger thematic content of the book. It was just weird. I can rationalize it all I want, and I still find it weird.

Give ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ a Read

Yes! If you’re on the fence, I’d say just dive in. There is A LOT to consider within its pages and I think my review only touches on some of what there is to unpack and think upon. Though I didn’t really enjoy this one much when I originally read it back in 2017, I’m happy I gave it a second shot in 2025. I found it to be a fun and thought provoking read.

I even learned a new word: Swivet!

That’s all I have for you this time. What are your thoughts on this one? Have you read it before? As a kid, or as an adult? What themes and concepts stood out to you the most? Did you learn any new words? (haha)

Leave your thoughts in the comments! I look forward to discussing this one!

Until next time . . .