108A TE Fall 2011 discussion

This was so much more than I honestly expected from a young adult book. We had speculated as a group that Marcus was the Laughing Man traveling through time, but the biggest surprise was his drawing of Julia. It just illustrated how the story really came back to the most basic human emotions of love and loss. Time traveling or not people sometimes need space like Sal and Miranda and letting someone into your life like Richard can be hard. Miranda's mother needed a push to believe in herself and move forward and Miranda was dealing with first crushes and kisses. Amazing how a book with such a seemingly dark mystery is so easy to relate to!

This quote really hit me - "Of course, he's the total hero of the story. But there isn't a happy ending for him." When the letter said "I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own" I believe Marcus had seen Sal's death and that he saved his soul, his "life", by going back to save him at the cost of his physical body.

Yes, I agree with you, there were lots of nuances in the book that resonated more with an older audience than teens,as you have mentioned about Miranda's mom feeling stuck and afraid of taking a chance, both on her personal life with Richard as with her professional life in deciding to go back to school. There were also lots of socio-economic sore points in the book that may be too subtle for younger audiences to grasp, like how Miranda's mom struggled to raise her as a single mom, and how Miranda felt awkward about her apartment versus AnneMarie's and Julia's. There was even civil rights issues, although Julia was an affluent and well educated African American, she still suffered from some sort of prejudice, not only from Jimmy, but also from Miranda, even if unconsciously.