If you could wish for something for yourself, what would it be? Would it be to meet someone famous? Or go somewhere you've never been? Or do something you always wanted to but never would get the chance to? Today we are sharing a middle school novel about three kids who have different illnesses and decide that even though they are "too old" for wishes they will make them but only if all three of them can be at each other's. Then they each struggle with their choices, family, friendships and dealing with their illness. The book is Wish You Well by Jamie Sumner. It is recommended for ages 10+.
Publisher's Summary:
From the acclaimed author of Roll with It comes a “winning, cathartic joy ride” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) of a middle grade novel about three kids with big diagnoses, bigger personalities, and one outrageous plan to team up and scam a wish-granting foundation.Violet Marino doesn’t want sympathy. And she definitely doesn’t want friends. She just wants to play soccer and deal with the whole slowly-going-blind thing on her own terms.
Then she witnesses a boy choke on a hot dog at a hospital picnic. Enter Wyatt: dangerously charming and full of terrible ideas, especially for a kid with a newly transplanted heart. Add sharp-as-a-blade Noor, who is always armed with excellent snacks she can’t eat, thanks to chemo. Other than their illnesses, the three don’t have much in common—except for the fact that a wish-granting foundation keeps calling.
Ever the optimist, Wyatt has a plan: team up to game the foundation, even if it means faking friendship. One wish is fine, but three sick kids on three epic adventures? That’s history-making. The scheme starts off as a distraction. But soon the stakes feel real. Because when you finally let someone in, there’s more to lose.
From Me:
Wow, there is a lot in this book! Three eighth graders who are dealing with illnesses they shouldn't have to at this age meet. Wyatt comes up with a plan since they all keep getting the wish-granting foundation mailings and have felt too old for it, what if all three make wishes but only if their best friends (the three of them) can come too so they get three wishes instead of one. The girls are not as excited but grudgingly decide to do it with him. They have to pretend to be best friends, so they do a few things together and soon it is not pretend.
Each of the friends have different personalities and different health issues. Wyatt was born with heart issues and was lucky enough to get a heart just in time but has to worry about his body rejecting it at some point. Noor has cancer. They celebrate when she finishes her chemo and grow closer as part it. Violet has a degenerative eye disease that usually affects older people. She will go blind. She hides how fast she is losing her sight from everyone. Each of them has so much to deal with and figure out. They slowly become friends and learn to depend on each other but at times struggle with the friendship.
This book brings in challenges of life of teenagers as well as the individual challenges of the health issues and trying to be treated as normal. Each of the three struggles with how people treat them. For Violet and Noor, they find their friends from before the illness look at them with pity. They discover that their friendship is different most of the time. They each have been through so much and hate when others pity them, so they know not to pity each other. Their new friendship provides others who understand a bit of what they deal with everyday.
The characters are well developed and the story flows well. It is a turn pager with the various twists and turns that are in it. There is even some coming of age and first love in the book. It is a wonderful story of friendship and understanding. Life is always hard but especially for teens with life-threatening or lifetime diseases. The book truly delves into what all of this means and perhaps feels like for the kids.
This book will be an interesting read for anyone. It would also be a great book for a classroom especially one with a student who has a serious diagnosis. The discussions of having a serious diagnosis or having a friend with one would be an interesting one and perhaps eye opening for most kids. I hope you will check out the book out.
