Wish

Sent to stay with her aunt and uncle in Colby, North Carolina, an angry girl makes the same wish daily.Charlie's daddy's in jail, her mama stays in bed all day, and her older sister's living with a friend. Daily, the almost-11 white girl wishes for her broken family to heal. (The many ways she wishes form something of a catalog of folk and family traditions and are delightful all by themselves.) When the social worker sends her to live with Bertha and Gus, Charlie feels like "a loser that nobody wanted" and hates living with total strangers in a hillbilly town. Bertha and Gus, on the other hand, seem truly thrilled to have Charlie with them, even when she's rude, sulking, or getting into trouble at school. Charlie doesn't know what to make of affable, white Howard, the class geek, who walks with a limp and befriends her even though she ignores him. With Bertha and Gus, Charlie finds a stable, loving home. With Howard, Charlie finds a steadfast friend who helps her catch a stray dog she names Wishbone. After weeks living with Bertha and Gus, playing with Howard and Wishbone, and slowly fitting into Colby, Charlie learns Mama wants her to come home. But where is home? Speaking in an honest voice revealing her hurt, resentment, and vulnerability, Charlie explains how her wish comes true. A warm, real, and heartfelt tale. (Fiction. 9-12) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese is heartsick that she's been sent to live with an aunt and uncle she doesn't know in the boondocks of North Carolina, because her dad, Scrappy, is in jail getting "corrected" and her mama can't get up off the couch to care for her. O'Connor (How To Steal a Dog) pens a touching tale of resilience sure to resonate with children who have ever felt like they didn't belong. Charlie feels she doesn't fit in and has built up a tough exterior, which, coupled with a short-tempered fuse, gets her nowhere in her "temporary" home with kind Aunt Bertha and Uncle Gus. Charlie resists becoming friends with Howard, an odd but kindhearted boy with an "up down walk" who comes from a boisterous and loving family, which is far from what Charlie is used to. Every day, Charlie has to find something lucky in order to make a wish, a ritual she's done every day since fourth grade, whether it is a bird singing in the rain, or blowing on an eyelash. Feeling kinship with a stray dog, Charlie is overcome with desire to give "Wishbone" the loving home she, too, is desperately searching for. When Wishbone disappears and she is compelled to search for him, Charlie learns there are people worth holding on to and what you wish for may not be what you really want. VERDICT Poignant and genuine, this is a tale that will resonate with readers long after they finish it and have them cheering for the underdogs-both of the two-legged and four-legged varieties.-Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
Eleven-year-old Charlie is sent to live with heretofore-unknown Aunt Bertha and Uncle Gus in western North Carolina, and she wishes--every day--to go home. The wish doesn't come true, but Charlie has a lot going for her, including neighbor friend Howard and adopted stray dog Wishbone. What in lesser hands could have turned sappy develops here as a slowly evolving character study.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2016
With her father in the county jail and her mother unable to get her feet on the ground, eleven-year-old Charlie is sent away to live with Aunt Bertha and Uncle Gus, two heretofore-unknown relatives living in western North Carolina. Mad as all get-out, Charlie expresses her anger with that old triumvirate of fighting, sassing, and holding pity parties. And she wishes. Every day. The same wish: to go home. But it doesn't come true. Far from abandoned, however, Charlie has a lot going for her. A neighbor boy, Howard Odom, may be the most generous friend a person could wish for, and Gus and Bertha clearly care for her. There's also the dog Wishbone, a stray she adopts who, like Charlie, just needs a home. Still, Charlie is so busy wishing for her old life that she fails to recognize the love and care that surrounds her in this new one. As Howard reminds her: If all our troubles were hung on a line, you'd choose yours and I'd choose mine. What in lesser hands could have turned sappy develops here as a slowly evolving character study. O'Connor has the setting and colloquial mountain speech down pat, but most important, she gets at the heart of Charlie's unhappiness, showing that wishes may come true, but perhaps not in the ways we expect. betty carter

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

August 1, 2016
Sent to stay with her aunt and uncle in Colby, North Carolina, an angry girl makes the same wish daily.Charlies daddys in jail, her mama stays in bed all day, and her older sisters living with a friend. Daily, the almost-11 white girl wishes for her broken family to heal. (The many ways she wishes form something of a catalog of folk and family traditions and are delightful all by themselves.) When the social worker sends her to live with Bertha and Gus, Charlie feels like a loser that nobody wanted and hates living with total strangers in a hillbilly town. Bertha and Gus, on the other hand, seem truly thrilled to have Charlie with them, even when shes rude, sulking, or getting into trouble at school. Charlie doesnt know what to make of affable, white Howard, the class geek, who walks with a limp and befriends her even though she ignores him. With Bertha and Gus, Charlie finds a stable, loving home. With Howard, Charlie finds a steadfast friend who helps her catch a stray dog she names Wishbone. After weeks living with Bertha and Gus, playing with Howard and Wishbone, and slowly fitting into Colby, Charlie learns Mama wants her to come home. But where is home? Speaking in an honest voice revealing her hurt, resentment, and vulnerability, Charlie explains how her wish comes true. A warm, real, and heartfelt tale. (Fiction. 9-12)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.