Novel Science Fiction

A Wrinkle
in Time
Author Year Published Original Language
Madeleine L’Engle 1962 English

OVERVIEW

Searching When the physicist father of Meg and Charles Wallace Murry goes missing,
they embark on a journey through space to find him. Guided by mysterious
the Galaxy for friends Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which, the children use a tesseract
and fight a cosmic battle they hadn’t bargained for.
Father

Earth Uriel Camazotz

Planet Earth battles On this radiant planet in a This dark planet shows
destructive forces but distant nebula, Meg learns the dangers of giving in to
produces strong fighters. her dangerous mission. conformity and evil.

Author Main Characters

Meg

Awkward high school girl who is brilliant

at math and science; struggles with
anger, impatience, stubbornness, and
self-esteem

Charles Wallace
MADELEINE L’ENGLE
1918–2007 Five-year-old, emotionally sensitive
prodigy with a gift for reading minds;
L’Engle loved learning about
can overestimate his ability, leading
the world through science,
to danger
religion, and fairy tales—her
interest in quantum mechanics
and particle physics led to
A Wrinkle in Time. Writing
Calvin
and working for years as a
cathedral librarian in New York Friendly, popular high school
City, L’Engle believed stories basketball player who loves to read
are the best way for humans and secretly feels lonely; has a gift
to find truth. for communicating with others

Symbols

Tesseract Light & Darkness IT

Represents freedom, Symbolize good and evil or Stands for conformity,

possibilities, and the unknown clarity and obscurity control, and oppression

here’s very little difference in the size of

the tiniest microbe and the greatest galaxy.
Mrs Whatsit, Chapter 5

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica,

The New Yorker, PublishersWeekly.com, Scholastic.com

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