Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

Age Recommended: 9 and up

A Swiftly Tilting Planet is my favorite book of the quintet so far. In this book, Madeleine L’Engle introduces a number of new characters and the story line is very captivating.

The book takes one back in time and the whole concept of “Within” is truly amazing. I loved how the concept of kything from A Wind In The Door was also used in this book.

Calvin’s family is portrayed exceptionally well in this book, and his mother is one of the main characters. The story is written so that Mrs.O’Keefe’s history has something to do with The Murry family and that makes it really entertaining. I believe Madeleine L’Engle had the entire quintet planned out from the outset.

Mr. Murry gets a call from the President saying that a man named Mad Dog Branzillo from a country called Vespugia is threatening the world with nuclear weapons. Any second, the man could fire a nuclear missile and the government would have no choice but to use their anti-ballistic missiles which would collide with the nuclear missile and create a giant explosion therefore destroying the world.

A unicorn appears in Charles Wallace Murry’s bedroom later that night and tells him that in order to save the Earth, Charles Wallace must go back in time and “Within.” The term “Within” means that Charles Wallace must go inside someones body and try to be a part of them so that Charles Wallace can think their thoughts and figure out how to stop Mad Dog Branzillo from being born.

When he does that, Charles Wallace figures out that Mrs. O’Keefe is somehow connected to this whole mess. Will Charles Wallace be able to stop Mad Dog Branzillo before it’s too late?