The first time I read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, I was mesmerized by the story. It was adventure, action, dangerous villains, and good vs evil all packaged into one incredible story for kids. It was scary enough to send chills down my spine but safe enough for me to read at a young age. The kids in the book were just like the rest of us, with hidden skills and big dreams, but somehow they were overlooked by the rest of the world. That’s how most of us feel growing up, don’t you think?
Here was a book that fired my imagination but was simple enough for a child to read. I’ve read better adventure books and I’ve read better written books, but I’ve yet to find anything like Wrinkle for a kid to read. This was the book that made the Harry Potter stories possible because it showed how fantasy, science fiction, and drama could all weave together.
Today, the storyline continues to amaze children and adults alike, and it’s considered a “must” for any list of great children’s books.
Of course, everything I’ve said thus far is about how great the book is. Rightfully so. But this blog series is about how the book influenced me. That’s harder to explain.
Perhaps the best way to express it is to say that Wrinkle made it acceptable for me to dream. Unlike other stories that I read as a kid, here was a story that embraced the impossible and made it fun. The willingness to take a risk and seek adventure is in the heart of all boys and girls, but most want a safety net before taking a first step. Having my parents encourage me to read a book like Wrinkle felt like the equivalent of an endorsement to chase dreams, have an adventure, and live life to the fullest.
There was no way I could have verbalized that as a kid. Even my parents would have been surprised by the impact the book had on me. But everybody I knew loved the book, and they made no secret of their admiration. It was as if people were saying, “Wow, this would be a fun way to live a life! You should read this and see what I mean!”
And so I did, and of course I loved it. And not surprisingly, I wanted to live a life like that.
Kids need permission to dream. Some books, like this one, act like permission slips. That’s why A Wrinkle in Time is on my list of books that most influenced my life.
Want to read more of my top 25? Here is the list thus far:
Celebration of Discipline – #1
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings – #2
The Cost of Discipleship – #3
The Screwtape Letters – #4
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – #5
Only the Paranoid Survive – #6
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold – #7
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – #8
Truman – #9
Shantaram – #10
The Maltese Falcon – #11
The Shadow of the Wind – #12
Survey of the New Testament – #13
Calvin & Hobbes – #14
Celtic Daily Prayer – #15
Managing the Nonprofit Organization – #16
A Wrinkle in Time – #17
The Practice of the Presence of God – #18
Catch 22 – #19
The Tortilla Curtain – #20
The Kingdom of God is a Party – #21
Earthkeeping – #22
Reviving Ophelia – #23
The Grapes of Wrath – #24
Peanuts – #25