A Wrinkle in Time

Starred review from April 30, 2012
Hope Davis narrates this engaging new audio production of L’Engle’s classic novel. When the troubled and underachieving Meg Murry’s physicist father goes missing, Meg—along with her younger brother, Charles, and friend Calvin—warps across the universe in an attempt to find him. The trio is aided by three angels, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which, who use Dr. Murray’s mysterious tesseract project to whisk the children through space and time. Davis delivers pitch-perfect narration that captures the spirit of the author’s prose. She also creates distinct voices for the book’s many characters, most notably the petulant Meg and enthusiastic Calvin. Listeners are in for a real treat—and longtime L’Engle fans will delight in Davis’s outstanding performance, which breathes new life into this acclaimed fantasy title. Ages 10–up.

September 3, 2012
L’Engle’s Newbery Medal–winning 1962 novel of good, evil, and quantum physics gets a stellar (no pun intended) graphic novel treatment from Eisner-winner Larson (Mercury). Larson’s loose, modern drawing style focuses on the characters, largely omitting backgrounds and leaving readers room to add their own imagination. Meg Murry looks every bit as gawky and uncomfortable in her own skin as she feels, and Larson also plays up Charles Wallace’s specialness and strangeness, giving him large, haunted eyes that seem to see things his other family members cannot. The b&w art, highlighted with Wedgwood blue, effectively accents the children’s sense of alienation, but limits some critical storytelling elements (like a villain’s red eyes) after Meg, Charles Wallace, and their neighbor Calvin are whisked across time and space on a mission to rescue Dr. Murry from an evil force that threatens the universe. While fans may miss L’Engle’s detailed and evocative prose, her original dialogue, combined with Larson’s deft interpretation, will remind them of their first reading, while simultaneously bringing a seminal classic to a new generation. Ages 10–up. Agent: Edward Necarsulmer IV, McIntosh & Otis. (Oct.)■