Introduction


Cover for an edition of A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L’Engle was once called stupid by some of her teachers, but she proved them wrong when she went on to author many popular books for young adults. Richly imaginative, her science fiction tales are not just fantasy. She strove to include in her work many concepts that exist in modern science. L’Engle wrote a great deal of nonfiction in addition to her fictional novels. She often blended fiction and memoir, adding many events from her real life into her stories. L’Engle believed that religion, science, and magic were simply different parts of the same reality. Her most well-known works are A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters.

Essential Facts

  1. L’Engle wrote more than 40 novels, plays, and collections of poetry.
  2. Wheaton College in Illinois has a Madeleine L’Engle collection that includes manuscripts, interviews, and photos.
  3. L’Engle volunteered as a librarian at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and was later writer-in-residence there.
  4. L’Engle visited Antarctica in 1992 at the age of 74. This was a particularly remarkable feat because she had been injured in a serious car accident just a year earlier.
  5. L’Engle won the prestigious Newbery award in 1963 for A Wrinkle in Time.