When You Reach Me-Prediction By Steven Xie
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead seems to be a fictitious but realistic book that is set in New York. I believe that the main character is a female, and I predict that the main conflict will be either character vs. self or character vs. fate/circumstances. I predict that “When You Reach Me” would be a “Realistic Fiction”, as I it is not “Non-Fiction”, as the characters are not real. However, the content in the book may suggest to the reader that it is a true recount, as it is written in first-person, and the plot in the first to paragraph is realistic enough that it could happen to anyone (aside for the fact that the main character’s mother has just won the place of a contestant in the “$20 000 Pyramid”). I think it would be set in New York, as the main character stated in the text, “Unlike me…and might obstruct America’s view of her small, freckled face. (pg. 1)” This means the family either lived in or near the United States of America. I believe precise location would be New York, as th the main character also states, “It says Congratulations in…Studio TV-15 on West 58 Street. (pg. 1)” I have been to New York before, and I know that there, most street names consist of a st nd rd th number (1 , 2 , 3 , etc.), and a direction (North, East, South, West), exactly like West 58 Street, and I can infer from this that the main setting of this story would be in New York. Also, the cover of the story seems like a picture of New York vaguely, but although it could attribute to any other city as well; the shadows of buildings in the background makes the book seem even more likely to be set in the urban America. I can predict that the conflict later on in the story would be character vs. self or character vs. fate, the latter being more possible and likely, as the main character stated that her mother was going to a reality show, and I believe that fate would make the reality show go wrong, and that it would be up to Rebecca to face the circumstances and save her mother, and would makes sense, as it is an author’s tool of foreshadowing. I believe that the main character is a girl, as usually, girls talk about their mothers and not their fathers. Rebecca Stead is a female writer, so the possibility that the character is a girl is higher. This would lead to different choices in the book than if the character was a boy than me, and so I expect some decisions that do not follow my sense of logic in a book, such as perhaps the girl would do something extremely reckless and unheard of, which I would not do, such as try to save her mother if the studio collapses in a fire, or rescue her when she is held captive.