I had read Wish when I was in middle school, and frankly I didn’t remember much about it except the fact that it made me cry.
And I had the opportunity to read it again. So I did.
I saw this book in a much different light, and I was able to understand other concepts and Charlie’s story deeply now that I am older.
This book explores profound topics that many people can relate to in some way; however, it is narrated from the perspective of an eleven-year-old girl, Charlie Reese.
Charlie Reese has been making the same wish since fourth grade. She has been sent away from her broken family and sent to live with her Aunt and Uncle.
Child Protective Services sends her to live with her Aunt and Uncle until her mom can “get back on her feet”. However, Charlie doesn’t understand the situation. She doesn’t understand what people mean by her mother needing to “get back on her feet”.
She feels like she doesn’t belong. Not with her broken family, and not with Bertha or Gus because she doesn’t even know them, and they are too nice. She desperately longs for someone to understand her.
This is something that many readers both young and old can understand, wanting to feel as they belong and needing to find a place where they are needed. Where they are loved.
And a skinny stray dog enters the story, whom Charlie decides to name Wishbone. She decides to care for it, for Wishbone is one of the only beings in her life that listens to her, and one that she feels cares and loves for her.
Maybe, just maybe, her wish can come true.
Age Range
I personally believe this book is suitable for 4th graders and up. This book contains very slight mentions of alcohol abuse.
Isa's Book Nook 
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