7.5/10
Certainly imaginative, with strong themes of identity and the harmony of creation. ( )

Every time a star goes out, another Echthros has won a battle.

It is November. When Meg comes home from school, Charles Wallace tells her he saw dragons in the twin's vegetable garden. That night Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace go to the vegetable garden to meet the Teacher (Blajeny) who explains that what they are seeing isn't a dragon at all, but a cherubim named Proginoskes. It turns out that Charles Wallace is ill and that Blajeny and Proginoskes are there to make him well - by making him well, they will keep the balance of the universe in check and save it from the evil Echthros.

Meg, Calvin and Mr. Jenkins (grade school principal) must travel inside Charles Wallace to have this battle and save his life - as well as the universe.

In the past I haven't enjoyed this book. I'm not as science minded so I found it a little confusing. But as an adult re-reading I found this book really interesting. I was impressed by the story and the character development. ( )

A surprisingly thought provoking book that encourages the exploration of the greatest philosophical thoughts of the universe. The importance of being everything and nothing at once ( )

What! Two stars for my beloved Madeleing L'Engle?! Well, friends, I'd never read this before so I picked up an audio copy at the library recently and I was 100% excited to get into it. Unfortunately, I was distracted by Ms. L'Engle's narration. I feel a little funny calling out this wonderful writer for something as trivial as saliva, but she has to have the wettest voice in the history of audio books. I could practically see the spit flecking out of her mouth and covering the microphone as she talked. They must have edited out slurping noises! (Ok, now I'm just being harsh.)

Slobbery speech aside, I only felt so-so about the book itself. I love the idea of the villain Mr. Jenkins becoming the crux of Meg's mission. I don't know how many times I've complained about one-dimensional villains (answer: a lot), so it's right up my alley for a writer to ask kids to see that even "bad" people can have good qualities and that we need to look at the whole person, at why they are who they are. Still, this just wasn't my thing. The echthroi weren't as scary as I think they were supposed to be and the climax was not as climax-y as I thought it would be. Maybe a lot of the letdown was in the narration because I really did like the ideas behind the story. ( )