In honor of Madeleine L'Engle's 80th birthday, a host of prominent writers and academics gather to create this unique collection. Madeleine's circle of friends and peers (writers, poets, scholars, theologians) here provide an intimate portrait of L'Engle and respond to her writings and mentoring influence. Ranging from the personal to the academic, these essays illuminate the many worlds of Madeleine's writings: the private, the reflective, the theological, the scientific, the mythic, and the literary.