I have read most of these books several times. A Wrinkle In Time was the first chapter book I remember reading, and I have loved it every since. I could really relate with Meg, and aquward adolescent turned heroin. the story continues with Meg and her brother Charles Wallace through two more books. The forth focuses mostly on the twins and is an interesting twist on the story of Noah.

Meg has been a nerd most of her life until she learns the secret about her father. She battles it out with some freakish dark forces and ends up falling in love with Calvin O'Keefe. It seems that these books really tell a lesson and can relate to life situations. I liked the series and it's quite interesting what you find out about each character.

these books changed my life! and the way i view the world, time, space, other dimensions.....existence, etc.

I LOVE THEM!

Though I didn’t rate all of the stories in this volume 5 stars, the volume gets them all for its beautiful format and additional materials. The appendix includes several other writings by L’Engle—speeches, essays, and deleted scenes from her first novel. My favorite of those was a speech she gave to the Library of Congress on creativity and “daring to disturb the universe.” As usual with The Library of America editions, a fine chronology of the author is provided; some entries so tantalizing you want to know more.

I’ve reviewed the four novels separately:

A Wrinkle in Time
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A Wind in the Door
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A Swiftly Tilting Planet
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Many Waters
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

These books are so amazing even as an adult. They are deeply philosophical, yet still full of mystery, science fiction and fun! I think that these books may have stared my early philosophical mind buzzing!!

This is by all accounts from other readers a fine juvenile read. i found it when my children were already grown...adults...on their own, but finding I had enjoyed other "youth reads" I picked it up anyway. I found it nice. It's reader friendly and I think it will stretch and involve younger readers well. If you have younger readers this is one you should try. As a book that holds on over for older readers I don't think it works as well, though if you read it young and loved it that might be another story.

I really couldn't get involved in the story, but I wish I'd found itr when my kids were young enough to have it read to them.

Reread Many Waters 1/16/2010 (and many times before)

Reread A Wrinkle in Time 2/13/2010

Reread A Wind in the Door 2/22/2010

Reread A Swiftly Tilting Planet 5/10/2014: I always remembered this as my favorite of Meg and Charles Wallace's stories (though Many Waters was probably my favorite of the Quartet). I also remembered A Wind in the Door as being the "preachiest" one. (Yep, moreso than the one set in a Bible story!) Rereading this now, though… first thoughts were, proudly, "Long before 'Cloud Atlas', there was this!" But as I got closer to the end, certain things started to unnerve me. Perhaps it's all the 'StarTalk' (Neil deGrasse Tyson's) radio I've been listening to, re: time travel and causality and 'Might-Have-Beens'… perhaps it's greater general knowledge of science and the Bible (however rudimentary in both). But I'm a bit unnerved by --

[SPOILER ALERTS STARTING HERE]

-- by the battle between "good" and "evil" coming down to a kind of eugenics. …That's putting it a bit strongly, and distortively. It's not racial so much as Biblical. Keeping the genetic line coming from the correct prehistorical forebear—but doing so by continually re-mixing the same genetic lines and not letting them get tangled in or diluted by the wrong ones. My main problem with that might just be biology; the thought "Erm… but genetic diversity is actually BETTER…"

And yet another of my favorite books, "Sarum: The Novel of England" by Edward Rutherfurd has something vaguely similar going on, and not on the "Cloud Atlas"-ish level of spiritual reincarnation: a more theoretically grounded theme of determinism —even though that's also a religious term… blargh. But the observable trend, even in shorter time spans, of the actions and fortunes of one generation tangibly impacting the next, behaviorally if nothing else. Not to say genetics DON'T have much to do with individual personalities/behavior/"fate", they certainly do, but maybe not as simply—and hopefully without the "good/evil" judgment call. (Maybe my taste has just moved further away from parable.)

Bottom line: I still love the book, and appreciate the influence it's had on me, and think it's wonderful, but wonder if certain aspects of it would be the same had it been written later in time (since 1978). Possibly separately: I'd also be interested to see a story (a longer novel, obv., written for adults not kids) with the same premise but certain differences for more subtlety: i.e. more mixed identification (Charles Wallace wouldn't only jump Within other white male characters, maybe some non-white and/or female char.s too), a more Dr. Tyson-consistent model of causality (all SORTS of changes to any timeline will have consequences, and in inverted dynamic: small changes would result in huge differences, not just a huge change to cause one discrete difference), and maybe a different judgment call on lines of heritage (crossing and recrossing the same genetic lines might not be a great thing—or it could be kinds of teaching/temperament/values, which I suppose it kind of is, but not solely linked to genetics?)

Maybe I just see the cultural imperatives at play here more clearly than I did before, even without certain obvious buzzwords.

And of course I always appreciate that all these adult issues have adequate room in a children's book.

While I did have trouble with some of the mathematical aspects of the book-- as any mention of math makes my brain immediately turn off-- I did enjoy them. I consider this series another one of my "5 fantasy series every child/teen should know."

I do not even remember the first time I read A Wrinkle in Time, but years after that first reading, I found a copy in a used bookstore and fell in love all over again. Today I own the box set as well as a few other books by L'Engle and recommend them to people at every opportunity. I was very sad when L'Engle died, for the world lost a literary genius with incredible talent and vision. Don't let the placement of these books in the children's section fool you...children and adults alike can benefit from reading the entire quartet.
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I must admit that the original "Wrinkle in Time" didn't really hold up as well as I expected it to. I read it back in elementary school, and remembered it was one of the greats. However, as an adult, I found being bashed over the head with Christian mythology, which I didn't recall from childhood, annoying. Also, I got the impression that Ms. L'Engle got to 120 pages and suddenly realized she was under some contract to write no more than 132 pages, so rushed the ending. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think it was terrible, just not nearly as great as I remembered.
The other books, however, were great sequels, maintaining the storyline, even though there's little need of prior knowledge. The quality of writing is consistent, and the tales are generally well told, although the last's ("Many Waters") ending is also rushed.

Fantasy

One of my ALL time favorite series from childhood. I can distinctly remember the summer I discovered this series & devoured all 4 books as rapidly as I could. It really was my introduction to the sci-fi genre, which to this day is not really my thing, but these books, they made it accesible and interesting and fun to my youthful & spongy mind. Would love to re-read these with my children. They are certainly too young now being only 5 & 3, so perhaps I will have to indulge sooner...