When You Reach Me

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When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

A postcard arrives for Miranda’s mom confirming receipt of her application to be a contestant on The $20,000 Pyramid to be filmed on April 27th, 1979. Miranda looks in the box under the bed where she’s kept all the notes. It confirms April 27th: Studio TV-15. Miranda found an anonymous cryptic note which asked her to write in detail about everything that happened this fall and winter. She hasn’t written it yet. But she will. 

Miranda’s mom raids the stationary cupboard at work, where she is a paralegal and receptionist, for supplies to practice for The $20,000 Pyramid. Though it is the birthright of every latchkey kid to be able to watch TV after school, Miranda doesn’t, instead she makes prompt cards to help her mom practice whilst enjoying another latchkey birthright: pre-dinner snacks. Her mom’s boyfriend Richard is also helping her prepare. 

While waiting two hours for her mom to finish work, Miranda helps at Belle’s Market, helping Belle with stock and stuff, and telling her in-depth about her favorite book A Wrinkle in Time. Once home, they hide a spare key in the old fire hose in the lobby that probably doesn’t work anymore. The key is important to mention in the letter that Miranda is meant to write.

There is no pyramid practice tonight because there is a tenant meeting with the other building residents. Miranda’s mom scribes the meeting and sends the many and detailed concerns to the landlord who promptly does absolutely nothing about them. Miranda recalls when her mom moved into the apartment and she was only a baby. It was grimy and dusty and needed a lot of elbow grease. Her mom met Louisa that day, another tenant, another single mom, who would turn into her mom's best friend and Miranda would soon be besties with Louisa’s son, Sal.

Now though, Miranda has lost Sal. He’s not dead, just they’re not best friends anymore and the world feels more unsafe. Like, walking home from school past the homeless man on the corner who her mom has dubbed the laughing man (that’s a terrifying name!) is scary because he acts erratically and Miranda is only twelve and doesn’t understand mental health and now has to walk alone. 

One night Miranda is unsuccessfully trying to do her homework, thinking about the note. If writing just what happened was all that was needed, that would be easy, but she’s been asked to write down the story of what happened and everything that led up to it. If absolutely forced to think of when it started though, it would be the day Sal got punched. 

It happened in the fall on the way home from school. A group of boys who like to hang out on the street before the laughing man were there, they seemed to be just chilling so Miranda and Sal didn’t cross the road to avoid them. One boy in a green army jacket split from them, punched Sal in the stomach and then across the face before walking off down the street. Not a word was spoken. The other boys shouted at the green army coat boy. Miranda hustled Sal, on the verge of vomiting, past the laughing man and home. Sal closed his apartment door and wouldn’t open it for Miranda. That was the end of their friendship. 

Miranda and Richard help her mom practice for the speed round of The $20,000 Pyramid. They have an official list of what they’d like to do with the money, travel to China, get a camera for the trip to China, get carpet for Miranda's room and get a new TV… though Miranda and Richard have a secret plan for the money if her mom wins. 

The following day after Sal got punched, the green army jacket boy was following Miranda not two feet behind. Doing what she always does in these potential confrontations, Miranda asks him the time. The boy tells her judging by the sun, because he doesn’t have a watch, and Miranda makes it home safe and sound, careful not to wake the sleeping laughing man as she passes. After Sal got punched, he starts to play basketball more and more and talk to Miranda less and less. 

Luckily(?) this happened the same week Miranda's classmates Julia and Annemarie got in a fight and so Miranda and Annemarie became friends and started eating lunch together, either at the pizza place or Jimmy's sandwich shop. Miranda  has never liked Julia since second grade when Julia complained about having the wrong colored paper in art class for a self-portrait. One day, Miranda goes to Annemarie’s house after school and she notices how nice Annemarie’s apartment is and how they have a doorman.

During class, Miranda volunteers to be an office monitor which involves fetching the kids who are due to see the school dentist. One of the kids is Marcus Heilbroner, the kid who punched Sal. Miranda notices Marcus has a math book that looks like it’s for geniuses. Marcus points to Miranda’s book, A Wrinkle in Time, and mentions it’s about time travel but says that the Mrs. Ws lied to Meg and didn't drop them off five minutes before they left like they said they would because if they did, then Meg would've seen herself and her dad and Charles Wallace and Calvin in the vegetable patch and that's not how time travel works. They argue about the book, time travel, and relativity until Marcus goes in to see the dentist. Marcus is sure that time travel is possible.

One day, Colin, another classmate of Miranda's, joins Miranda and Annemarie for lunch at Jimmy's. He has an idea to see if they can help out at the shop during their lunch period. They don’t get paid money, just a cheese and lettuce sandwich and a soda. They’re also instructed NOT to touch Jimmy’s Fred Flintstone money bank, in fact, don’t look at it! When Miranda comes home from school that day, the front door is unlocked. She goes to Sal and tells him but he doesn’t seem to care. Miranda’s mom notices everything seems okay except their spare key hidden in the firehose is gone. Miranda finds the first note Monday morning.

Miranda finds the note in her library book and it is small and feels weirdly crunchy, like it got wet or something. It says the note writer is coming to save her friend's life and their own, but to do so, she must write a letter and include the location of the house key and Miranda immediately tells her mom because that's creepy. They both are freaked. But also, it could just be a weird coincidence, right? Finding a note in a library book?

After a week at Jimmy’s, Annemarie and Colin progress to making sandwiches, but Miranda only gets to count the bread delivery because her bread cutting is rubbish. During one shift as she is counting bread rolls, Miranda finds the second note and it is again small and crunchy feeling. It instructs her to tell the true story in as much detail as possible. It also tells her not to share this note or any more of the others. Okay so, the notes are not coincidences. Colin and Miranda meanwhile look in the Fred Flintstone bank and see $2 bills folded into triangles. 

Back at school after a sandwich shift, Julia seems to be waiting for Annemarie and Miranda. Julia doesn’t understand why they work at Jimmy’s because she thinks it’s disgusting and then she makes a snide comment about money. Annemarie corrects her bullying, but then Julia points out she shouldn’t even be eating sandwiches or drinking soda. Miranda doesn’t fully understand what is being said, only that Julia is rude. In class, as Miranda is reading A Wrinkle in Time, Julia fires an elastic band at her head, yeah, definitely rude. None of this stops her from going to the sandwich shop another day during lunch, but Jimmy throws her out because he’s a racist jerk but Miranda doesn’t realize this yet. 

Over Thanksgiving break, Miranda looks at the notes, really thinking about each part. After a while she puts them away and watches TV instead. It’s around this time that Miranda finds out what was taken the day when their door was unlocked, when they noticed the  spare key was gone: one of Richard’s spare work shoes. 

Back at school after break, Julia tries to reach out to Miranda after Annemarie has a funny moment in the cafeteria. A few minutes after Julia leaves them, Annemarie is called to the nurse and doesn’t come back. Julia confronts Miranda about her not liking her, but really Miranda just seems to be stunned at Julia’s directness. 

On the way home Miranda sees Sal ahead of her and Marcus approaching him. Sal pretends to tie his shoelaces and Marcus walks straight past Sal, then straight past Miranda, which is weird because they've had actual conversations before. Why does he pretend not to know her? 

That evening Miranda calls Annemarie to check on her and finds out that someone left a rose for her on the doormat. Who could it be from? Miranda also finds out that Annemarie has epilepsy and is supposed to adhere to a special diet which helps her manage it, and yes, Julia was right, she shouldn’t be eating bread and drinking sodas. 

The next day is the start of December and it’s cold so Miranda puts on her warm jacket. On her way to school, Miranda finds another crunchy note in her pocket. This one mentions “proof” and instructs her to look in Colin’s knapsack at 3pm. It also says Christmas Day “tesser well” and April 27th “Studio TV-15.” It also tells her the purpose of a yawn, which was a science project she made a poster about earlier in the school year that she carried home the day Sal got punched.  

As she’s passing Marcus’s place on her way to school, after reading the note, he comes out and falls in step with her. They start talking about the nature of time again and then they run into Julia who agrees with Marcus. Miranda does not get any of the explanations or analogies about time travel that they both seem to be really excited about, so she changes the subject to why Marcus punched Sal. He explains that did it for his own stupid reason. He wanted to see what would happen. Strangely, the laughing man runs away when he spots Marcus. 

At Jimmy’s that day, the bread numbers come up two short which means Jimmy has something to complain about, something that Colin always thought Jimmy would enjoy. When 3pm rolls around, Miranda looks in Colin’s knapsack and finds the two missing rolls. It's “proof” that the note was right! After school, Miranda visits Annemarie, and on her way home, she gives the laughing man her sandwich from Jimmy’s that she didn't eat that day. She and Colin went for pizza instead while Jimmy was complaining about missing rolls. The laughing man calls Miranda “smart kid.”

The following weekend, Annemarie sleeps over at Miranda’s. After a rocky start where Miranda complains to her mom about her lack of housekeeping and forgets to tell her mom about Annemarie’s special diet (thankfully Annemarie’s dad has brought plenty of snacks), it goes really well, better than any with Sal because Annemarie stays the whole night while Sal always ended up going home early.

Just before Christmas break, Jimmy kicks Miranda, Annemarie and Colin out of the shop saying they’re lucky he doesn’t call the police on them. Somebody stole his Fred Flintstone bank and he blames them. They decide to get Jimmy a card saying they did not take the bank but they are sorry it happened and asking if they can come back to work. 

The next day, Miranda slips the card under Jimmy’s door on the way to school and together they head to Jimmy’s at lunchtime. Jimmy agrees they can come back, saying they’re good kids, but their other friend can’t come back ever again. Jimmy means Julia and uses some derogatory terms which shows he’s a racist jerk. Annemarie leaves angry, and even though Miranda and Colin don’t fully understand what has gone on, they leave too. Unfortunately Annemarie is so upset and she takes out her anger on Miranda. 

Christmas vacation starts and none of the friends will see each other much until school starts again in the new year. Maybe it's for the best. For Christmas, Miranda gets some cool stuff: a beaded bracelet, a portable radio, a fancy journal, a sweater, cookies and, best of all, Richard gives her a signed, personalized first edition of A Wrinkle in Time. Madeleine L’Engle wrote in her book “Tesser well.” The second bit of proof! Miranda is blown away by the gift and the implications. 

On New Year’s Day, Miranda’s mom is sleeping late so she writes her a note to let her know she’s going out. After a bit of a walk, Miranda uses a payphone to call Annemarie. Her dad picks up and invites Miranda over. There is no lingering anger between the friends and Miranda spends the day with Annemarie, forgetting to tell her mom where she is. When it gets to lunchtime, Miranda’s mom calls frantically trying to find her. She comes to pick up her daughter, and more relieved than angry at her, they go to a movie and find Richard waiting for them outside their apartment. They go to a local diner for food. 

The new school semester starts with a boring assembly. During it, Miranda realizes that Julia looks at Annemarie the same way she looks at Sal and understands Julia a little better, so she slips her a note saying TRUCE and sharing her phone number. After school, Miranda stops by Belle’s to tell her about Aunt Beast and get a bottle of chocolate milk. Belle tells her about the laughing man paying for his food with folded up $2 bills. Miranda realizes the laughing man took Jimmy’s Fred Flintstone bank. 

Sal and Colin are hanging out in the apartment building lobby when Miranda gets home. A short time later, Julia calls. Before she realizes it, Miranda has agreed to go to Julia’s to make a flourless birthday cake for Annemarie. A little later, Colin knocks on Miranda’s door and he kisses her. She kisses him back. 

Julia’s mom, always on a new health kick, has a ton of cookbooks, won’t let Julia decorate her own room, and she’s not really present. Miranda realizes again, she and Julia aren’t so different and have a few mutual interests like Mysteries of Science and A Wrinkle in Time. Together Miranda and Julia attempt to practice the flourless cake but have to call Miranda’s mom at work to ask questions. 

Miranda is walking home from school with Sal a little ways ahead of her when she sees the boys who like to hang out on the street laughing and ridiculing Sal. One pushes him and Sal shouts back. Sal heads for home, but then Marcus comes out of a door and Sal breaks into a run. Marcus runs after him shouting to “hold up.” The laughing man is on his corner, watching, and then Miranda sees something weird flash next to him. Marcus is still chasing Sal and shouting for him to wait as Sal reaches the street corner. 

Miranda breaks into a run shouting for Sal to stop too. Marcus stops as he realizes Sal is running from him but now Sal is in the middle of the road. Miranda catches up to Marcus and they both see the oncoming truck at the same time. Sal is going to get hit by the truck. Suddenly, the laughing man is in the street and kicks Sal out of the way, the truck hitting the laughing man instead. Marcus collapses to the ground sobbing. Miranda runs to Sal. 

Belle collects Miranda and tells her not to look at something on the ground. Setting Miranda at the laughing man’s usual space, Miranda spots Richard’s missing shoe. The mailbox Miranda is leaning against has the words, Book, Bag, Pocket, Shoe scratched into it. Reaching inside the shoe, Miranda pulls out a fourth crunchy note. 

The note tells Miranda this is the story she needs to tell and asks for her letter to be delivered by hand, knowing she'll understand who to give it to. There are apologies for tenseness, but the trip has been a difficult one and a man can only hold so many pieces of paper in his mouth. Oh. That's why the letters felt weird and crunchy. Looking up, Miranda sees Marcus on the ground crying and shaking, the truck driver proclaiming that Sal is still alive, but next to them is a heap of something awful. The laughing man is dead. 

That night, Miranda thinks hard, the trip is a difficult one. Why? Her mom lets her know Sal is at the hospital but will be home soon. The next day, Sal is home and, after dinner, Miranda goes to visit. They have a good heart to heart. Sal doesn’t want to stop being friends with Miranda, but he realized she was his only friend and he needed to hang out with other boys and play basketball and she needed other friends too. Miranda tells Sal that Marcus was trying to apologize for punching him when he ran away. Sal is unconvinced. 

At school, Miranda is helping in the office when the police come for Marcus. Miranda gets scared and uses the dentist's phone to call her mom to come help her friend. She then runs to get Marcus “to see the dentist right now” and the dentist hides them in his office until Miranda’s mom, the paralegal, can get there. She'll know what to do.

It takes a little while for Miranda’s mom to get there and in that time, the police find Marcus but the dentist covers for him. Marcus uses this time to explain why he hit Sal. His older brother was beaten up and Marcus watched it happen. His brother wanted to know why Marcus didn’t help but Marcus didn’t think he was part of what was going on. His brother told him that one day he’s going to have to hit someone and get hit back so he’ll understand life better. Marcus wanted to understand so he hit Sal. Except Sal didn’t hit him back. His brother called him hopeless after that. Then, Miranda’s mom arrives. 

Miranda’s mom and the police use the principal's office to talk. After fifteen minutes, Miranda’s mom instructs them to open the dentist’s office door. The police are gone. Belle reported Marcus to the police thinking that he had chased Sal into the street on purpose. With everything cleared up now, all charges are dropped against Marcus. 

After this, life moves on. Miranda tries to forget about the laughing man but she still needs to write the letter. When the postcard from The $20,000 Pyramid comes inviting Miranda's mom to the studio on April 27, that is the final piece of proof. Miranda, Richard, Louisa and Sal go to the studio with Miranda’s mom for the show. 

The recording is very fast, the music loud, and Dick Clark is right there. Before she knows it, Miranda sees Dick Clark leading her mom to the Winners Circle. Miranda is staring at her mom so intently everything else fades out and then her mom is jumping up and down and the crowd around her is cheering and clapping. During the moment her mom is in the Winner’s Circle, Miranda has an epiphany. The laughing man had already read her letter before he died and he knew everything. Time travel is possible! 

April 27 is also Richard’s birthday, so they celebrate that night. Miranda hands her mom an envelope Richard put together that she has been keeping safe. It’s filled with applications for law school. Richard’s birthday gift is a key to their apartment. The next morning, Miranda starts writing her letter to Marcus. She realizes what a horrible burden it will be. 

Suddenly Miranda remembers that the laughing man would lie on the ground with his head under the mailbox. Going to investigate, she finds the spare apartment key and a pencil drawing of a woman who is clearly an older Julia. When Miranda finishes the letter, she hands it to Marcus and tells him to try and not land in the broccoli. He’s smart, he’ll understand.