 | Careful What You Wish For (Orca Anchor) Author: Narsimhan, Mahtab | |
| Price: $8.98 | ||
Summary:
Eshana is a bit of a social misfit. She feels more comfortable talking to people online than in person. One day she discovers a website that claims to be a safe space where young people can support each other in making their dreams come true. She starts talking with someone called Wise One. Eshana admits to the Wise One how hard it is for her to make friends. The next day she goes to school and suddenly everyone wants to talk to her. Are Eshana’s wishes really coming true?
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 09/01/2022 Gr 8 Up—A hi-lo retelling of "The Monkey's Paw" for the modern teen. Eshana, a bullied 10th grader, stumbles upon a strange fairy-tale—themed website called I-WISH. The creator of the website claims to be able to grant wishes. Eshana's wishes begin to come true, but they come at a cost. Her personality starts changing, becoming first rude and then cruel. When her final wish puts her family in danger, Eshana learns who her real friends were all along. Narsimhan succeeds at creating a story for teens who are reading at a lower level without infantilizing the content. Although the shortened form necessitates a more simplified story, the characters and concerns ring true for modern teens, some light swearing included. The author reflects her own South Asian heritage in Eshana's story, which resists the mistaken belief that stories for struggling readers need to remain as culturally and linguistically narrow as possible. The chat room—style website that Eshana discovers reads as a little dated, since most modern teens stick to app-based social media sites, but this throwback isn't too jarring. VERDICT An excellent choice where hi-lo fiction is needed.—Jeri Murphy - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
School Library Journal - 09/01/2022 Gr 8 Up—A hi-lo retelling of "The Monkey's Paw" for the modern teen. Eshana, a bullied 10th grader, stumbles upon a strange fairy-tale—themed website called I-WISH. The creator of the website claims to be able to grant wishes. Eshana's wishes begin to come true, but they come at a cost. Her personality starts changing, becoming first rude and then cruel. When her final wish puts her family in danger, Eshana learns who her real friends were all along. Narsimhan succeeds at creating a story for teens who are reading at a lower level without infantilizing the content. Although the shortened form necessitates a more simplified story, the characters and concerns ring true for modern teens, some light swearing included. The author reflects her own South Asian heritage in Eshana's story, which resists the mistaken belief that stories for struggling readers need to remain as culturally and linguistically narrow as possible. The chat room—style website that Eshana discovers reads as a little dated, since most modern teens stick to app-based social media sites, but this throwback isn't too jarring. VERDICT An excellent choice where hi-lo fiction is needed.—Jeri Murphy - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
School Library Journal - 09/01/2022 Gr 8 Up—A hi-lo retelling of "The Monkey's Paw" for the modern teen. Eshana, a bullied 10th grader, stumbles upon a strange fairy-tale—themed website called I-WISH. The creator of the website claims to be able to grant wishes. Eshana's wishes begin to come true, but they come at a cost. Her personality starts changing, becoming first rude and then cruel. When her final wish puts her family in danger, Eshana learns who her real friends were all along. Narsimhan succeeds at creating a story for teens who are reading at a lower level without infantilizing the content. Although the shortened form necessitates a more simplified story, the characters and concerns ring true for modern teens, some light swearing included. The author reflects her own South Asian heritage in Eshana's story, which resists the mistaken belief that stories for struggling readers need to remain as culturally and linguistically narrow as possible. The chat room—style website that Eshana discovers reads as a little dated, since most modern teens stick to app-based social media sites, but this throwback isn't too jarring. VERDICT An excellent choice where hi-lo fiction is needed.—Jeri Murphy - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 08/01/2022 When Indian American Eshana face-plants in the lunchroom, Cara catches it on video and sends it to the entire high school. Reeling from the mortification and feeling friendless, Eshana goes online where she discovers a website called I-WISH with an animated wizard named Wise One, who urges her to visit the wishing well. Charmed, she makes her first wish: for friends. When it comes true the next day, she can’t wait to make other wishes on the site, starting with one that punishes Cara. But when the wishes start to come true in bad ways with terrible, unexpected results, Eshana realizes she must find a way to destroy the site and get her life back. While lower stakes than most lit in the high/low realm, there’s still a quick pace and steady pulse to this brief story, and the ending is ultimately satisfying. The book presents basic lessons in cybersafety as well as overt positive moral messaging about being kind and grateful. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.
