read for Popsugar 2018 challenge: a childhood classic you've never read

I'm pretty disappointed I never read this book when I was 12, because I think I would've loved this. This book was fun and engaging, and now I'm super pumped to see this movie. I loved the eccentricities of Mrs. Whatisit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which especially imaging how Reese, Mindy, and Oprah will play them! I also really liked Meg. I saw one review calling Meg a whiny bitch, which was really intense for a 13 yo main character. I really liked that Meg was angry and emotional, mostly because it reminds me of my own adolescence. Honestly, this story was probably closer to a 3.5 for me, because it was really rushed and the ending was SUPER cheesy. The audio performance definitely put it over the top for me, so I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed it had I just read the print book.

It's weird to talk about childhood classics because so much about publishing kids lit has changed. The audiobook had an afterward by L'Engle's granddaughter which was so fascinating, and it helped to put a lot of the book in perspective. It was interesting hearing about her struggles with publishing and all the initial criticisms of the novel, which were really all over the spectrum ideologically. After skimming Goodreads, I think it would be beneficial to some readers to have read the afterward. Not that it would change your opinion on the story, but it just added a good historical perspective. After all, this book is older than my mother!