Welcome back to our book review series!
This month’s book review comes from one of our virtual clubs. The group formed in the fall of 2020 after the pandemic forced all Next Chapter Book Clubs (NCBC) to begin meeting online. People from a few existing clubs joined together on Tuesday nights. As they say, there was “chemistry” (this means they got along well).
Once it was safe to meet in-person again, the group decided that virtual meetings actually worked better for them. Over four years later, members and co-facilitators in this club have read an impressive variety of eBooks together. They have also become friends who look forward to seeing each other on Zoom each week and picking up where they left off in their latest book.
Book: A Wrinkle in Time
Author: Madeleine L’Engle
Please tell our readers a little about your book club.
“We read a book together,” says Drew.
Halle adds, “Right now, we are reading A Wrinkle in Time.”
“We meet on Zoom on Tuesday nights and we read all kinds of different books,” says Chuckie.
“Some of the books that we read come from movies. You know me, I’m an actor. I like to give the characters a voice,” says Michael, who keeps the reading lively and entertaining.
“I look forward to it every week. This is the most fun group I’ve ever been in. I just leave with a smile,” shares May, one of the club’s co-facilitators.
Harvey also enjoys book club, saying, “I really like it, it gives me something to do on Tuesdays.”
“I like hearing about everyone’s weeks and activities and hearing what everyone has been up to,” says co-facilitator Rachel. “Chuckie gives me a hard time about OSU sports,” she adds with a wink, and Chuckie laughs.
“I started with NCBC in 2018 as a member and became a facilitator in 2020,” says Amy, who completes the warm and steady trio of co-facilitators in this club. She adds, “When we first moved to virtual, I wondered how that was going to work. But I think we’ve done a great job learning how to use Zoom.”
Amy continues, “It’s fun to interact with everyone and learn about them. It’s also fun to invite new people to book club, even if it doesn’t pan out.” Over the years, Amy has invited several people to join book club, some of whom are interested in improving their skills. She says, “Reading skills may not be the first thing people think about with NCBC, but it helps. It’s like a side benefit.”
Thank you, Amy, for being so good at bringing people together!
Top row, left to right: Drew, Jillian (interviewer), May
Middle row, left to right: Chuckie, Halle, Harvey
Bottom row, left to right: Amy, Rachel, Michael
Missing from photo: Spencer and Jeff
What is A Wrinkle in Time about?
“There are three sisters called the three Mrs. (Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which),” Halle says. The other main characters in the book are Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and his friend Calvin.
“They are trying to get back home,” Halle adds.
“They’re also trying to rescue somebody,” Rachel says.
“Yes, their father,” Halle agrees.
Michael adds, “I did watch the movie, and they are trying to find their father.”
In A Wrinkle in Time, the three Mrs. explain to the children that the universe is being threatened by a great evil called the Dark Thing. Meg and Charles Wallace’s father resisted this evil and was captured. He is being held captive on a different planet… in a different space and time.
“I would describe this planet as earth gone terribly wrong. And now the main characters have been captured and are being held captive,” May says.
As of this interview, this is where the group left off in the book, so no spoilers!
When asked how the characters got to this strange planet, Amy explains, “The Tesser is the method they use to travel through space.”
To demonstrate, Amy holds up a piece of paper and walks her fingers across the paper. Then she folds the paper, showing how this fold, or wrinkle, can help the characters travel through space and time. For more information about A Wrinkle in Time, visit the Wikipedia page HERE.
How easy is the book to understand?
“It’s been a little difficult to understand, to be honest,” Harvey says. Others in the group nod their heads in agreement with Harvey.
Amy says, “For those who are into science fiction it might be easy to understand, but visualizing what is happening in the book can be difficult.”
“I’m with you, Amy. It’s hard to picture the things in this book,” Rachel says.
“If you haven’t watched the movie, it probably doesn’t make any sense,” Michael says. “But I’d say somewhere in between difficult and easy.”
When asked how easy the book is to understand, Drew says the book is “easy to understand.”
Chuckie says, “It’s somewhat difficult if you don’t understand, but it’s a good book.”
Indeed, A Wrinkle in Time is a very good and very abstract book. This means the reader must use their imagination quite a lot when reading this book.
May shares her impressions of the book so far, “I can tell there’s a lot under the surface, a lot of deep things. It’s a book that you need to read again and again and again to get the full picture. That can be a good thing and an annoying thing. This is a book that can give you something new every time you read it.”
What do you like about the book?
Everyone seems to like different parts of the book. Chuckie says, “I liked it when they sit down at the table to eat, and they gave them a little pill.”
Michael says, “I liked it when Meg and Charles Wallace go through the woods.”
“I like the amount of detail,” says May.
Rachel adds, “When [Mrs. Whatsit] first took them to the other planet was pretty cool.”
Are there any parts you don’t like? If so, what are they?
“It was pretty strange when they touched Charles Wallace’s face to see if he was real,” Michael says.
If another Next Chapter Book Club was thinking about reading this book, would you suggest it?
Michael replies, “Yes and no. I’d suggest watching the movie first.”
“Yeah, we’ve got a lot of movie buffs in this group,” Rachel adds.
Chuckie says that he would suggest the book to other clubs. Halle shares that she has been talking with her mom about the book.
“I would suggest it, but be prepared for a lot of words you’ve never seen before. If you’re ready for that, it’s a pretty good book,” Amy says.
What book (or series) that you’ve read in this book club has been your favorite so far?
Please rate your current book on a scale from 1 to 5 stars.
This book club gives A Wrinkle in Time an average of 4.375 out of 5 stars.
