A Wrinkle in Time Summary

The tale revolves around Meg Murry, an awkward high school girl who embarks on an interstellar journey with her younger brother, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe, a friend, in order to save her mysteriously vanished father, a brilliant scientist, from an alien planet's malevolent forces. Their journey starts after they meet Mrs. Whatsit, a seemingly eccentric vagabond, but in reality, an astral being who can tap into Meg's thoughts. Mrs. Whatsit introduces them to a tesseract, a sort of spatial-temporal anomaly, which becomes their gateway to traverse the fifth dimension in their quest to find Mr. Murry.

On the day following their encounter with Mrs. Whatsit, the trio, after crossing paths with Calvin O'Keefe, a popular schoolmate, are informed by Mrs. Whatsit and her companions, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, about a malignant cosmic entity known as the Dark Thing, which has consumed numerous planets including Camazotz, where Mr. Murry is held captive. Upon reaching Camazotz, they find a world where everything is eerily identical, controlled by the hypnotic pulsations of IT, a gigantic brain devoid of a body. Charles tries to combat IT using his superior intellect, but falls under IT's influence, becoming an automaton parroting IT's words. With Charles under IT's control, the group confronts IT, but can barely escape, tessering to Ixchel, a grey planet, while leaving Charles behind, still under the thrall of IT.

On Ixchel, they encounter the three Mrs. W's again, and Meg realizes she must return to Camazotz alone to save Charles. She is told she possesses something that IT lacks, which will serve as her weapon against the evil, but needs to discover it herself. When faced with IT, Meg discerns her weapon is her capacity to love. By focusing on her love for Charles, she is able to break IT's hold on him and tesser back to Earth, where they are joyfully reunited with their father and Calvin. The narrative concludes with the Mrs. W's biding them farewell as they set off on another journey.