When You Reach Me
When You Reach Me follows a sixth-grade protagonist, Miranda. She lives with her single mother who has a kindhearted boyfriend, Richard. Miranda's best friend Sal, who she knew since she was a small child, had recently started ignoring Miranda after he had been punched in the face by another boy, Marcus.
A homeless man lives on the corner of Miranda's street. She calls him the "laughing man" for his tendency to laugh without cause. Miranda notices that he always utters the words "book bag pocket shoe". The phrase refers to the order and place he will send Miranda notes—her library book, a bread bag, her coat pocket and a shoe. The first three notes instruct Miranda to write a letter describing the future events. The notes, whose writer claims to be coming to Miranda's time to save a life, offer three signs of the truth of the messages. As the plot develops, the proofs come true, and Miranda is intrigued.
Miranda and her new friends, Annemarie and Colin find a sandwich shop on the corner, wondering if they can get paid for a job there. The owner, Jimmy, agrees, but he does not wish to pay them with money instead he intends to give a free pop and a sandwich each day of their work. Miranda, Annemarie and Colin discover a Flintstone bank in the back of sandwich shop. Colin, wanting to see more of the bank, is pulled way by Annemarie insisting that Jimmy could find them. The next day, Jimmy fires the three workers, thinking that one of them stole the Flintstone bank, when it was actually Marcus who stole it. The workers write a card, give it to Jimmy and insist that they did not steal the bank. Jimmy believes them and let them work at the sandwich shop. He then tells them that he figured out who stole the bank. He thinks that it is Julia, a classmate in their class, and a best friend to Annemarie. He is racist, because he thinks Julia stole it because she is black. Annemarie, defending her best friend, gets angry, quits her job, and flees from the store. She is
A homeless man lives on the corner of Miranda's street. She calls him the "laughing man" for his tendency to laugh without cause. Miranda notices that he always utters the words "book bag pocket shoe". The phrase refers to the order and place he will send Miranda notes—her library book, a bread bag, her coat pocket and a shoe. The first three notes instruct Miranda to write a letter describing the future events. The notes, whose writer claims to be coming to Miranda's time to save a life, offer three signs of the truth of the messages. As the plot develops, the proofs come true, and Miranda is intrigued.
Miranda and her new friends, Annemarie and Colin find a sandwich shop on the corner, wondering if they can get paid for a job there. The owner, Jimmy, agrees, but he does not wish to pay them with money instead he intends to give a free pop and a sandwich each day of their work. Miranda, Annemarie and Colin discover a Flintstone bank in the back of sandwich shop. Colin, wanting to see more of the bank, is pulled way by Annemarie insisting that Jimmy could find them. The next day, Jimmy fires the three workers, thinking that one of them stole the Flintstone bank, when it was actually Marcus who stole it. The workers write a card, give it to Jimmy and insist that they did not steal the bank. Jimmy believes them and let them work at the sandwich shop. He then tells them that he figured out who stole the bank. He thinks that it is Julia, a classmate in their class, and a best friend to Annemarie. He is racist, because he thinks Julia stole it because she is black. Annemarie, defending her best friend, gets angry, quits her job, and flees from the store. She is