The Wish by Gail Carson Levine
There are books that you read as a young girl and relish in the moment, but lose track of as an adult. Then there are those that will bloom up in your mind from time to time, reminding you of what it was like to be that young.
The Wish by Gail Carson Levine is one of the latter for me. This enchanting middle grade novel stars the perfectly normal and perfectly nice Wilma Sturtz. Wilma likes herself well enough, but no one seems to really notice her. Sometimes, she thinks her classmates forget about her or haven't ever seen her to begin with. With graduation on the horizon, Wilma hopes she can just make a fresh start after the school year.
But then, Wilma meets on old woman who promises to give Wilma her wish: to be the most popular girl in school.
The crazy thing? The wish comes true. Suddenly Wilma has a great group of friends and loads of boys even want to be her date to the Graduation Night Dance (one seems to even be leaving her love poems).
But when Wilma realizes how the wish's wording will unravel all of the ties she has woven for herself, can she find a way to hold on to those who truly care?
I often think of The Wish fondly. I remember what it felt like to be in middle school and not be the most popular or the most pretty, even though those you ask will say there's nothing wrong with you and you're quite nice. I connected with Wilma and the journey she goes on because of her wish allowed me to think about the meaning of friendships and the importance of being seen.
Carson Levine is probably best known for her book Ella Enchanted (which I also read and loved), but there was something a little more grounded in The Wish that stuck with me in another (perhaps more important) way.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment