It is 1978, and twelve-year-old Miranda is living what seems like an everyday life. Little does she know, but her love of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is going to help her solve a mystery that will help save her best friend's life.

It all starts when she gets a bizarre series of letters. They indicate that they need her to write down what is happening so they will be able to help her. They will be watching her. As you can imagine, she is pretty freaked out by it, but she is not really able to focus on the details.

Her mother is preparing to go on The $20,000 Pyramid, and Miranda her mom's boyfriend Richard are doing everything they can to help her practice.

There is also a very strange homeless guy living on the streets of Manhattan near her home. He likes to lie with his head under the local post box. Everyone has started to call him "the laughing man" because he seems to randomly start laughing.

To make things even more interesting, Miranda and her friends at school get a job at a local deli.

Slowly, the details of the plot come together in a complex and convoluted tale that touches on time travel, death, and $2 bills. Seriously thinking about time travel always gives me a headache, and this book pretty much did the same thing. While the cover makes the book look like a fun and light story, it is really meant to make the reader thing deep and philosophical. As a result, I am not sure that this book will be able to attract a large audience. It would take a strong younger reader to keep up on what is happening and keep his or her interest.

I probably would have put it aside if I didn't have to review it for a teen award committee I am on. Most kids would be better served by just reading A Wrinkle in Time instead of this book that is clearly inspired by it.