Goodbye and Thank you Madeleine L'Engle

When my wife became pregnant with my son, I began to buy children's books. The books that I read and enjoyed growing up. White Bird by Clyde Robert Bulla, the first book I remember reading on my own. It made my son cry, he wondered why I gave him such a sad book. Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, I read that on a plan flying over to England. So different from the television show that had formed my first impressions of Tarzan. And of course, A Wrinkle in Time written by Madeleine L'Engle, the wonderful story of Meg, her brainy younger brother Charles, the mistresses Whatsit, Who, and Which.

I can no longer recall when I first read A Wrinkle in Time. I suspect that I discovered it in the sixth grade. My home town had built a new library. And I spent a lot of time trudging over there, loading a backpack full of as many books as I could carry, and then walking home. Early this year, Camarillo replaced the "new library" of my youth with its latest "new library."

My son doesn't trudge. We live a bit too far. So I run the family over there once a week, usually Fridays. My daughter prefers the books on tapes. She easily loses herself in any story. I would prefer that she read, but I bow to the inevitable, because with the books on tapes, I can slip her the classics. She's listening to Anne of Green Gables right now. And yes, she does read her own books. But they are usually at a different level. We do a bit of this and that to keep her interest.

But I was talking about A Wrinkle in Time. It is so hard for me to keep on track. This book blew me away. Meg was so adult from my view. And these kids were so independent and Meg was actually trying to rescue her father. In the sixth grade, the though of helping my parents would never have occurred to me.

Can you believe at least 26 publishers rejected it, because it was too different? I remember her follow up novels, A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. But I don't remember Many Waters. I must ask my son. He loved her novels. He loved the math in them. We had these wonderful discussions when he was reading them.

Madeleine L'Engle had a special, wonderful imagination. And her books fill a precious crevice in my memories. She had a long life, but I feel sad knowing she no longer walks this earth crafting new stories in her head. We are the richer for Madeleine L'Engle's beautiful mind and her lovely contributions to the world of literature, in most particular, A Wrinkle in Time.