<P> The trip is a difficult one . I will not be myself when I reach you . </P> <Tr> <Td>--The first note Miranda receives </Td> </Tr> <P> When You Reach Me follows a sixth - grade protagonist, Miranda . She lives with her single mother who has a kindhearted boyfriend, Richard . Miranda's best friend Sal, whom she has known since she was a small child, had recently started ignoring Miranda after he had been punched in the stomach by another boy, Marcus . </P> <P> A homeless man lives on the corner of Miranda's street . She calls him the "laughing man" for his tendency to laugh without cause . Miranda notices that he always utters the words "book bag pocket shoe ." She later realizes the phrase refers to the order and place he will send Miranda notes--her library book, a bread bag, her coat pocket and Richard's shoe . The first three notes instruct Miranda to write a letter describing the future events . The notes, whose writer claims to be coming to Miranda's time to save a life, offer three signs of the truth of the messages . As the plot develops, the proofs come true, and Miranda is intrigued . </P>

Who is sal in when you reach me