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A Wind in the Door
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A Wind in the Door
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A Wind in the Door
Audiobook5 hours

A Wind in the Door

Written by Madeleine L'Engle

Narrated by Jennifer Ehle

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Meg Murry can't help but be worried when her six-year-old brother, Charles Wallace, announces there are dragons in the vegetable garden. He's so bright, and so different from other kids, he's getting bullied at school, and he is also strangely, seriously ill.



But Charles Wallace is right about the dragons--actually a friendly entity who has come to help Charles Wallace fight his sickness, and to take Meg and her friend Calvin O'Keefe on a terrifying, wonderful journey into galactic space--where they must battle the force of evil to save Charles Wallace, and themselves.


From the Trade Paperback edition.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 10, 2012
ISBN9780307916624
Author

Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) was an American author of more than sixty books, including novels for children and adults, poetry, and religious meditations. Her best-known work, A Wrinkle in Time, one of the most beloved young adult books of the twentieth century and a Newbery Medal winner, has sold more than fourteen million copies since its publication in 1962. Her other novels include A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and A Ring of Endless Light. Born in New York City, L’Engle graduated from Smith College and worked in theater, where she met her husband, actor Hugh Franklin. L’Engle documented her marriage and family life in the four-book autobiographical series, the Crosswicks Journals. She also served as librarian and writer-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in Manhattan for more than thirty years.

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Reviews for A Wind in the Door

Rating: 3.9395041752885853 out of 5 stars
4/5

2,339 ratings59 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Very similar style to A Wrinkle in Time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A re-read as an adult. This was a little better than OK, but not as good as the first in the series. The themes of love and dependence (on family, community, environment, etc.) are important ones, but seem to get drowned out in the fantasy elements. I think this story would be challenging for the age group it is intended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Evil is trying to annihilate the universe....in order to do so they need to cancel the life of Charles Wallace. Charles unbeknown to most is the one who keeps the balance of the Earth's galaxy.

    When Charles & Louise the Larger (the garden snake) see what seem to be dragons (which in reality is a Cherubim) in the garden, Charles runs to get his sister Meg. When Meg & Charles return to the garden all that remains of the dragons are feathers.

    When Charles falls deathly ill due to an internal conflict of his mitochondrial farandolae, which are being taken over by the evil Echthroi, it is up to Meg, the Cherubim, Meg's friend Calvin, & the school principal Mr. Jenkins fight the evil & save Charles Wallace as well as life in this Galaxy.

    This is sequel to "A Wrinkle in Time", which I still have no desire to read and second in the Time Quintet.

    What really impressed me about this book, is its timeliness in the way which it describes good vs. evil, love vs. hate, & being vs. not-being. In my mind it clearly described the reasons for war & hate & the undoing of the world as we know it today.

    I was totally amazed and taken over by this book which I finished in less than a day.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was not my type of story. That doesn't mean others won't like it.I can say I'm done with this series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book has always been my favorite of the Time Quintet - except that I think I read it for the first time when it was still the Time Quartet. I always associated most with Meg in these books, so this one, in which she features so prominently, resonated with me.

    The audio version is good, though it can be a bit hard a times to figure out who is talking. It got to the point where I stopped worrying about who was speaking; usually the intent was there in the words if you let it be, and the specific person doing the speaking didn't matter as much.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    In A Wrinkle in Time we learned that the evils of communism could be defeated by the power of love. In A Wind in the Door we learn that sickness is caused by evil attacking creatures which live on mitochondria and that the evil can be stopped by the power of love. Honestly, I don't understand why people love this series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Meg is the main character in this second book in the series. She must again fight the forces of evil who wish to destroy the world (and the universe) to save Charles Wallace (again!).
    She grows throughout the book as her world-view is challenged by the strange characters she meets and then Meg and the cherubim, Proginoskes, must face three tests or trials as well.
    Another good and challenging read with lots of 'science' terms to do with mitochondria and the fictional creatures, farandolae, that live inside them.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Just re-read the book and I just remembered why I loved it way back then. Despite its abstract and science fiction plot it was very understandable for a child. There was no need for explanations what mitochondria, farandolae, kything is. All you need to understand is how love can save all of us, small or big. Size does not matter, where does not matter, only love does. I love how there are hidden religious elements in this book just like Narnia. This book is for all sizes, all ages everywhere. It transcends time and place. Kudos Ms. L'Engle.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The way that this is read I liked it because it made me go to sleep and didn’t know the rest until I was done in the next morning
    It was ok
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I have never heard of these books but ong I love them.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A little disappointing after discovering A Wrinkle in Time; not as inventive, a little weird, and drags in the middle. Meg and company spend WAY too long in the mitochondria with the farandolae.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mostly same characters--along with the same silly questions and attitudes. There doesn't seem to be any growth. But the story does include a lot of good metaphysics. Time and size are irrelevant, it's only necessary to "name" something for that something to become meaningful; and they fight a battle of emotions, shrunk down inside Charles Wallace.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Charles Wallace is still having trouble at school. The kids beat him up for the way he talks and the things he's interested in. Meg is very worried and none of the grown ups in their life seem willing to do anything. But her worries turn into full-blown terror when she begins to realize that Charles Wallace has been sick for a long time and is getting worse. Something is wrong with his elemental particles and if evil triumphs in Charles Wallace it might just spell disaster for the entire universe. A motley crew of immortal beings come to the aid of Meg and Calvin as they battle the void itself to save Charles Wallace.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A Wind in the Door had me in tears by the end. There was both sorrow and joy alike. There were many layers and messages to be explored. As is typical with this series, love is important. To that end I think this concept may be the most important: "Love isn't how you feel. It's what you do."Older now than when I first read the book, this quotation resonated now: "The temptation for farandola or for man or for star is to stay an immature pleasure-seeker. When we seek our own pleasure as the ultimate good we place ourselves as the center of the universe. A fara or a man or a star has his place in the universe, but nothing created is the center."There is much to enjoy and much to think about in this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not even a shadow of 'A Wrinkle in Time'. Meg's incessant whining irritated me to no end.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I think what upsets me most is that all if the skill and craftsmanship of the first novel disappeared completely. Instead of interesting dialogue and concepts, this novel is filled with jumbled babble and for some reason the characters act as if the entire first book never happened. A serious disappointment of a book.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    If I read it as a spiritual allegory instead of expecting it to be a sci-fi book, I get more out of it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is my least favorite book following A Wrinkle in Time. The characters seem further away, making it hard to connect on an emotional level, and I don't find the plot QUITE up to the plot of the other books. This isn't a bad book, and on it's own it would probably be rated much higher, but when it's being compared to A Wrinkle in Time or A Swiftly Tilting Planet, it can't help but to fall flat. I read it because it's part of a series I enjoy and love, not because I love this particular book itself.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed this book! The fascinating scientific and mathematical details in it might have inspired me to study science had I read it as a child. I found it intriguing the way L'Engle weaves science and fantasy into a riveting children's story. I read this as bedtime reading, but I had a hard time putting it down and going to sleep!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I forced myself to stay up last night to finish this book - folding laundry, emptying the dishwasher, playing solitaire, all with my earbuds in. Was it because this book was so awesome, I couldn't wait to find out how it ended? Not quite. A Wind in the Door has an interesting plot - at least interesting enough that I wanted to find out how it ended. But the reason I stayed up that extra hour was because the narration was so incredibly awful that I did not want to start my day with this irritatingly squeaky voice in my ears during my morning run. This sequel to A Wrinkle in Time starts out with a pretty good plot - space travel, mitochondria - I almost stopped listening because I thought I should share this one with my son. The narration really went south, when a new character was introduced - tiny little microscopic entities that are part of our mitochondria. And tiny little creatures have to have very high squeaky voices. Turning the volume down and listening with just one ear bud improved things... but not by much. This is a book that should be read...in print.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book. I like the ideas that we need to grow up, hate destroys, love creates.It seemed odd that there was no reference to the prior book. The only hint of the 1st book was Meg saying she and Cal had been through a lot together.It was strange Meg doubting there could be dragons after what she saw in the 1st book. Also her not understanding why Charles Wallace was so important
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The second book in a beautiful series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A Wind in the Door takes place a year after A Wrinkle in Time. Meg is worried about her youngest brother, Charles Wallace, who has just started school.I enjoyed the first half of A Wind in the Door as much as I enjoyed the first book, and was disappointed with the second half. The challenges Meg faced were just too similar to those in the first half, the ultimate outcome felt predictable, and the setting was a bit confusing.(It did not help that the narrator for the audiobook - Jennifer Ehle, unrecognisable, with an American accent, as Elizabeth Bennet - did not have such distinct voices for the characters as Hope Davis, who read the first book. If I was momentarily distracted and missed something, it was harder to work out who was speaking and what was going on.)If the next book followed directly on from this one, I would have shrugged aside my disappointment and carried on immediately with the series. But the next book is apparently about Charles Wallace ten years later, and so is unlikely to resolve what I’m feeling like is the unfulfilled potential of A Wind in the Door, the unfinished story of Meg Murry as a teenager.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When her little brother Charles Wallace gets sick, Meg and her friend Calvin join with a cherubim named Proginoskes and other odd creatures in an effort to safe not just a little boy, but the universe itself from the Echthroi, who wish to un-name (destroy) all things. It becomes an epic battle on the minute scale, as the heroes travel inside deep into the mitochondria of Charles Wallace in order to save him. A Wind in the Door is more of a companion novel rather than a direct sequel to A Wrinkle in Time — although the characters are the same (Meg, Calvin, Charles Wallace, etc.) and space travel and physics are at the forefront, the story makes no reference to the first book. For example, when the book mentions a darkness obliterating the stars, I immediately thought of the "dark planets" mentioned in in A Wrinkle in Time, but the characters themselves make no mention of their past adventures. It feels odd (and a little unnatural, because that's where my thoughts would go if I were Meg), especially after reading both books back to back. The only hint at past adventures is how unsurprised the characters are that strange or alien creatures and travel to the stars exists. This makes the book almost seem like a standalone story rather than a proper sequel, as reading the first book is in no way necessary to understand the references in this one. One of the small annoyances with A Wind in the Door (as with the first book) was how conversations would often loop over how things work in this universe, explaining the scientific or world-building concepts over and over again. A teach would explain what a creature is, Meg would not understand, so the teacher would explain again in slightly different way, then another character would still not understand, and then a new version of the explanation would be given. As an adult with a vague understanding of how physics works, this started to bother me after a while. However, since the book is intended for a middle grade audience and since some of these concepts are mind-bending and difficult to grasp, the use of repetition makes sense (even if it wasn't as enjoyable for me). L'Engle has presented another fantastic story with A Wind in the Door, one that stretches the imagination and expands the concept of what may be possible. Great characters, who work toward building love and life in the world, and a wonderful storyline.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A Wind in the Door is the second in the Time Quintet series a YA science fantasy novel by Madeleine L'Engle. It is follows the A Wrinkle in Time, and the Murry family is back together. But Meg Murry is worried about her little brother Charles Wallace, a 6-year-old genius bullied at school by the other children. The new principal of the elementary school is, Mr. Jenkins, appears to be unwilling to help. Later, Meg discovers that Charles Wallace has a progressive disease which is leaving him short of breath and weak. One afternoon, Charles Wallace tells Meg of a "drive of dragons" in their back yard. That night, Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe discover that Charles Wallace's "drive of dragons" is an extraterrestrial "cherubim" named Proginoskes (nicknamed 'Progo' by Meg), under the tutelage of the immense humanoid Blajeny, who recruits the three children to counteract the Echthroi (an entity that is trying to take the joy & the essence of the world—to X it out). This is a wonderful book that looks at sacrifice, inner strength of each of us, empathy, the importance of all thing both large and small (even at the cellular level) and the power of love. A great book for a young reader who enjoys fantasy, sci-fi and a little theology. 4 ½ out of 5 stars.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Book 2 of the Wrinkle in Time series. I never read this one when I was a kid. But I read it out loud to Jefferson.

    These books are strange in that the plot is very slow in the way of action, because it is really all about internal growth in the characters. Which all takes place in the form of or the result of conversation, often with strange, extra-terrestrial beings.

    Sometimes it all seemed just grindingly slow and hard to get through, but somehow in the end I found myself actually crying as I was reading it to Jefferson. So I guess I got invested after all. The concept of the cherubim was very interesting as well.

    Mostly I'm still looking forward to getting to Many Waters, which is the one I remember enjoying in my childhood.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very unusual story! The author explores the makeup of the human body and the universe through the travels of Meg. Meg’s brother’s Charles is ill with a disease that is being researched by their mother the biologist, the disease is impacts the formation of Charles’ mitochondria. The children’s father is a physicist who is investigating the disappearance of matter in the universe, which is also related to the disease afflicting Charles. The story focuses on the need for harmony in life and nature. The author does a good job of explaining the fragile nature of life through the description of Charles’ illness. Everything to the very smallest of structures to the largest has impact on everything else is explained very well in this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Charles Wallace is being been bullied at school; he's also sick, but nobody knows quite why...As with 'A Wrinkle in Time', this novel for children and teens is character-based fantasy, although the first half is mostly set in the real world.In the second part of the story, Charles' sister Meg has to solve some difficult problems, and ventures into a very unlikely place. The author mixes science, fantasy and spirituality in a novel that’s sometimes confusing but is very readable. Underneath the fantasy it’s a story about the battle of good and evil, about the power of love and friendship, and about doing what’s right. There are Christian values if one looks for them, but the book can be read from a secular point of view too.Ideal for any fluently reading child of about eight and upwards, or a good read-aloud for any age.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Strange, but interesting story. I definitely like A Wrinkle in Time better, but this book wasn't bad. It was okay.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I just had a flashback to my sophomore year in high school, when my attempt to draw Proginoskes on the chalkboard was interpreted rather poorly by the Driver's Ed teacher as something gynecological in nature. Small wonder I'd forgotten that.

    I don't think that one can judge this particular book on anything but sheer emotion. It doesn't stand up to any sort of plot analysis, but it's somehow love made visible.

    One thing I adore about L'Engle is that her female characters are smart and capable and fearless- the adult ones, at least. And the girls all have potential to grow into fabulous confident women. There's an exultant intelligence about these books that I clung to as a kid.