Rating: 
Summary: Learning Can Be Fun
Review: Meg dosen't believe it when her brother Charles Wallace announces that there are dragons in the twins vegetable garden. She figures it has to have been something else, because dragons just seem too unlikely. As it turns out, Charles Wallace is right about the dragons in a manner of speaking. It is actually one cherubim named Proginoskes who has come to help save Charles Wallace from a serious illness. When it becomes clear that Charles Wallace is in danger, the only logical solution is for Meg and her dear friend Calvin O'Keefe to go inside Charles Wallace's body to see what's going wrong. It is through this journey with Meg and Calvin that we realize that it is the littelist things can cause the biggest problems. This is a truly enjoyable story that teaches very important lessons.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wrinkle In Time is still without equal.
Review: Madeleine L'Engle's award winning "A Wrinkle In Time" stands head and shoulders above this sequel, the second entry in the "Time Quintet" series. Unlike the journey to distant galaxies of the first novel, in "A Wind in the Door" Meg Murray and her friend Calvin O'Keefe's main adventure involves a journey into the minute particles of her brother Charles Wallace, who is deathly ill. Meg's parents, a brilliant physicist and biologist, have discovered that human cells are made up of mitochondria, and these in turn are composed of farandolae. A dark power is at work among the farandolae, causing the illness of Charles Wallace, and more seriously threatening to tear up the entire galaxy. Only by entering one of Charles' mitochondria can Meg save Charles...and the galaxy.In the end, all this talk about mitochondria and farandolae gets a bit much, and the idea of travelling inside someone's body just doesn't have the same magic as travelling to distant galaxies. The concept of kything (being able to communicate with thoughts, like ESP) had a somewhat new-age flavour that I was not entirely comfortable with. The idea of Naming (The first of three quests that faces Meg is to Name the school principal Mr. Jenkins) is never entirely fully developed or explained. The need for a farandola called Sporos to "Deepen" simply lacked charm. And the plot is rather complex and weighed down by scientific techno-babble, which many children may find rather frustrating. As such, this book doesn't come close to matching the fantasy and power of the first novel. But those weaknesses aside, there is also much to commend this book. There are profound thoughts about the significance of everything having a name, and that the Creator "knows them all by name." "The stars don't need to be counted. They need to be Named." In this context, one's size doesn't detract from one's significance, because the tiny elements of the universe such as farandolae are just as important. The hostile forces are described as echthroi who want to X (annihilate) creation, and L'Engle uses them to picture a cosmic conflict between fallen angels (echthroi) and good angels (such as the dragon-like cherubim Proginoskes). The implied connection, however, between schizophrenia and demon possession (p123) will always be a controversial one. There are also several profound observations about life and faith. Memorable quotations that stand out in my mind include these: "Love isn't how you feel. It's what you do." (p116) "You have simply been faced with several things outside your current sphere of experience. That does not mean that they - we - do not exist." (p122). And the description of immature pleasure-seekers: "When we seek our own pleasure as the ultimate good we place ourselves as the center of the universe. A fara or a man or a star has his place in the universe, but nothing created is the center." (p172). And in the middle of all this seriousness, there are also moments of subtle humour, such as one instance where L'Engle pokes fun at Charles Darwin's theory of evolution: "What I really need are lessons in adaptation. I've been reading Darwin, but he hasn't helped me much." (p71) This book might not be the best in the series and might not be as captivating as "A Wrinkle in Time", but it's still a fantastic adventure worth travelling.
Rating:
Summary: A wind in the door
Review: A Wind in the Door
By Madeleine L' Engle
September 19 2002 A Wind in the Door was a great book that I read over the summer. It was written by Madeleine L' Engle. It takes place in a house during our present time. The characters in this book are Meg, Charles, Proginosks, Mr. Jenkins, Blanjie Sandy, and Dennys. Meg is a young girl in 8th grade who has 3 brothers; Charles, Meg's younger brother is in first grade and is very smart for his age, he gets made fun of because he's so smart. Megs other 2 brothers are Sandy and Dennys. They are twins and are like normal kids. Mr. Jenkins is the school principal and he was brought along on the adventure, and has know clue why. Proginosks is a many-eyed creature who helps Meg and Mr. Jenkins on their long adventure in Charles body. Blanjie is a character who tells Meg what adventure she is about to proceed on with Proginosks coming along. He is the caretaker of Proginosks. A Wind in the Door shows how many people will judge others before meeting them. You shouldn't judge people by their looks or what they wear. You should judge them by their personality and not beat them up if they are smart or young or old and dumb. Meg's younger brother Charles has a horrible problem with his mitochondria. Mitochondria is the power pack of our cells. His parents who are scientists can't seem to find the solution to his problem. They know a lot about bacteria in his cells but they can't seem to find out what's wrong. Meg got really concerned since her parents couldn't find out what's wrong, so she and Proginosks and Mr. Jenkins all went into Charles' body to fight off what's making Charles ill. The meanest character in this book is the Ecthroi. They are bad creatures who are making Charles even sicker. They are like big black birds and their squawking could make someone go deaf. Some bullies at school are beating up Charles, and that's making Charles weaker. This book is one of my absolute favorites. It has a lot of detail and everything is explained thoroughly. This book is very fascinating because of its detailed settings and creatures. Madeleine has a great imagination to have written a book like this. A reader who enjoys fantasy books may really like this book. I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 10 because there are some confusing parts and long words. This book was sad, but also very interesting. You could actually learn a lot about your cells and body from it, because Charles sickness has to do with his cells. This book will really get your attention and will make you think. The creatures all have a part in this book and all the clues make up the plot in the end. A Wind in the Door may seem boring but it's a great book and it'll take you on a big adventure to save one little boy.
Rating: 
Summary: Not As Good As The Others
Review: Among the first three books of the Time Quartet, this one is the weakest. The plot is not as neat as those of the other two, and it got tiresome towards what was supposed to be the climax. Although Madeleine L'Engle does a characteristically good job of establishing atmosphere, she failed to hold my attention, starting with the unlikely and unexciting first trial where Meg Murry had to identify the real Mr. Jenkins from among three lookalikes. And while the themes are excellent, as always, the way they were translated into words, in this book, leaves much to be desired. The first few chapters are very interesting, but towards the end, the book is a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as A Wrinkle in Time
Review: The point of the story is good, but it is way too complicated. There are way too many big scientific words for the average child.
Rating:
Summary: Sean's Rewiew
Review: 'A Wind in the Door' has a boy named Charles Wallace, a small little boy, who comes running in to tell his sister Meg that he sees dragons in Sandy's and Denny's garden. Were they there or were they not? One of my favorit parts was when Meg had to name one of the three Mr. Jenkins. The Cherubim, one of Meg's and Charles teachers, was named Proginoskes a creature with many wings and about a hundred eyes. He helps save Charles Wallace. Calvine another student and friend of Charles, which I think Meg has a crush on Calvine, was always there to comfort Meg in her trials to save Charles Wallace. This book was really cool. The Characters, the writing, the mental pictures it painted for me, was what I really liked about the book. YOU SHOULD READ IT!!
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Summary: A fabulous sequel!
Review: Madeliene L'Engle's sequel to A Wrinkle in Time is wonderful. A small point,the cherubim she is describing is actually an Ofranim, according to Angelogy. That aside, it is brilliant and just as good for adults to read as kids. (as is Wrinkle)
Rating:
Summary: An intense and intriguing book, but not as good as "Wrinkle"
Review: L'Engle once again sets up a magnificent universe of her own, where mind-boggling questions are raised. Does time or size really matter in the universe, or is it simply something that we have embedded in our minds, and is important only to ourselves? What DOES matter in the universe? Is it love, or understanding? The most I can say for "A Wind in the Door," is that it lets your mind become an active participant in the events that are unfolding. You feel as if you are there with the characters, helping them in their three tasks. I love L'Engle's writing style, but this book has its downfalls. At some points it seems impossible to understand what is going on (particularly at the end, when Meg & Co. are taken into the mitochondria), and this can be quite jarring. Whether the confusion of the book's ending was intentional or not, I found it more than a little annoying. Still, this book was well worth reading, and I reccomend it to everyone, though younger readers might find it hard to keep up with its confusing storyline.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest book
Review: It is a great book. Its so complicated and challenging, you just have to read it. Though some of the stuff may be a little out there, but you can still learn lots of stuff. To try to put yourself in any of the characters settings is an amazing feeling, I wish more books were like this.
Rating:
Summary: Good, But "A Wrinkle" Was Better
Review: Actually, I'd give this book three and a half stars. At some points in the book, the story seems to just drag on (mostly in the middle). But the beginning and ending is very good. In this book, Charles Wallace is seriously ill since Ecthroi (organisms which try to destroy everything) are trying to take over the boy by killing his mitochondria and farandolae. Now, a cherubim named Proginoskes and a man named Blajeny come to the rescue to try and save Charles Wallace. In order to save the boy, Proginoskes gives Meg Murry three tasks to achieve. One of these tasks actually includes going into the body of Charles Wallace.Will Meg and company achieve the three tasks and save Charles Wallace? Overall, I thought this book was pretty average. There are a bunch of confusing, imaginary words that Ms. L'Engle creates. And, some parts of the book are kind of [bad], such as going into the body of Charles Wallace in order to save him. I recommend this book to people ages 8-12. People older than this might think of the story somewhat Cheesy, and kids younger than this might see the book as too confusing. HAPPY READING!
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