If you haven’t heard, Madeleine L’Engle passed away on Thursday. Best known for her book for young adults “A Wrinkle in Time“, the article linked above mentions how L’Engle combined “children’s fables, religious meditations, and science fiction” to write her books. Apparently “Wrinkle” also used concepts from Einstein’s theory of relativity, Planck’s quantum theory, and L’Engle even said that her book was a refutation of certain German theologians.

I certainly didn’t appreciate Planck’s quantum theory as a young teenager (or now…), but I do remember absolutely loving the book. Now I’m not anti-Harry Potter, I think they’re fun books, but I think there’s no way they can compare to the complexity and sophistication of some of the real classics of young adult literature. To be fair, I recently read another book for young adults “The Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman. It reminded me of L’Engle’s books and was thoroughly enjoyable, but this more recent book (from 1997) seems like an exception for its depth and quality compared to the simplistic Harry Potter series and ensuing knockoffs.

Am I just on the ‘everything was better in my day’ tirade, or am I right? Can we really compare Rowlings and L’Engle? I’d love to hear some thoughts, and any books that you loved in your early teens but still enjoy reading.