the ramblings of a single mom of two boys

I decided to re-read the "Time Quintet" by Madeleine L'Engle. Looking back, I think "A Wrinkle in Time" was the only book I read twice, though i barely remembered the story. I'm guessing I read it about 4th grade. I knew there was a sequel, but I didn't remember there being 5 books. I'm not sure if I made it through the 2nd book (A Wind in the Door), but a name in the 3rd book (A Swifltly Tilting Planet) was very familiar--I think I named a rabbit 'Ananda' and I don't know where I would have gotten the name from other than maybe this book.

It has been a real trip to read these books. I finished #3 last night and have been listening to the audiobooks read by the author herself. The science and details are complicated and hard to keep up with audio-only so I don't see how I managed to read these very well when I was younger--which is probably (a) why I don't remember the story , and (b) why I never finished the series. I had a hard time with fantasy books growing up. I think mostly because I didn't like books where I couldn't pronounce the names, which also meant I couldn't have a conversation about the book without fear of sounding like an idiot for not pronouncing the words right.

I had to look up the dates of these books. The first was written in 1962, the 2nd in 1973 and the 5th in 1989. One of the reasons I absolutely had to confrim these dates was because in book two they are delving into the unknown, still-theory world of mitochondria. I guess I take my science for granted that it was always known, so to read a book where the teachers at the school think the kids are insane or disturbed for discussing mitochondrial diseases was other-wordly on its own and instead of detracting from the book, actually added to the fantasy of the whole situation.

Book 4 (Many Waters) is not available on audiobook through my library so I go to check out the book after work today. Depending on how that goes, I'll decide whether to listen or read the 5th book (An Acceptable Time). Acording to her webpage, Madeleine L'Engle died in 2007 and published 63 books. More than half are religious sort of books, and most of the other half are love-story novels with Harlequine-esque covers or coming-of-age novels. Other than this series, there only appears to be 2 or 3 other books that are also fantasy. Reading these books, though, it feels like these are great-great-great-grandparents of Harry Potter, Narnia, and other fantasy series that also assume that children can understand complex story lines. In her audiobook of the 1st book, she mentions that although her own children (ages 8, 10, and 12) loved the book, no one really knew what it was and where it should go (fantasy, young adult, children, etc.). I think it was because of these unique charcteristics that the book won so many awards.