There are some great themes in this book.

My favorite is viewing it as a coming-of-age story, where Meg realizes her father is fallible and cannot save them. But Meg also learns that she has the strength within herself to save them.

There’s so much to this book. It’s for all ages. There are themes in here that kids won’t understand. There are themes about spirituality. L’Engle has elements of space and time travel, alien life, and evolution of humanity.

My only problem with the story is the overt introduction of Christianity through quotations from the Bible. The quotations are spoken so matter-of-factly, even by alien beings on a different planet, so I found that jarring to my willing suspension of disbelief.

The three women who start the children on their journey are reminiscent of Shakespearian witches, but they’re really stars, or maybe angels, or maybe something else. It’s hard to tell. They have been granted permissions, but it’s not clear from whom, and the children’s visit to the first planet reads almost like it’s straight from Ezekiel or Isaiah.

I read into it a light vs. darkness or good vs. evil struggle, and I’m sure that’s present, but it seemed more nuanced than that, and L’Engle’s granddaughter confirms this in her afterword.

I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.