Guide to Using Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time in the Classroom

L’Engle, Madeline. A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Farrar, 1962.
Hardcover Trim Size: 0.91 x 8.49 x 5.77
Hardcover Pages: 224

L’Engle, Madeline. A Wrinkle in Time. New York: Bantam, 1973. New York: Yearling, 1998.
Paperback Trim Size: 0.63 x 7.76 x 5.16
Paperback Pages: 240

Awards: Newbery Medal 1963
Flicker Tale Children's Book Award Nominee 1987
Sequoyah Book Award 1965

Summary: Science fiction/fantasy about a young girl’s journey with her brother and friend through a “wrinkle” in time and space to save her father from the Dark Thing. First book in a series about the Murry’s adventures in time travel.

Personal Response: I found this book exciting and strange. It seems like a cute fantasy story on the surface, but I was most fascinated by the underlying ties to theology after reading some background information on L’Engle.

Quality: 4Q– No real flaws, but gets slow at times.

Popularity: 4P – Apparently the series is still widely read and enjoyed by young adults.

Audience: Readers 11+, male and female, should enjoy this book. The content is light enough to be enjoyable, but older readers will even enjoy the book on a deeper level.

Rationale for Using in the Classroom: This book is a very straightforward science fiction/fantasy story that is an excellent tool for exploring the literary good v. evil conflict. Characters are clearly either good or evil, and this will be a great introduction for students to identify these traits in later reading. Readers will also identify in a positive way with the main character Meg, who is trying to adjust to high school life. The book is also an excellent study of the presence of alternate societies and dystopias in science fiction. Many people characterize this book in terms of its theological elements, yet the book does not force an opinion on readers either way.