Review: Wish by Alexandra Bullen

Format:Hardcover
Pages 336
Published: January 1, 2010
Publisher: SCHOLASTIC INC
ISBN - 13: 9780545139052

From the Publisher:

After her vivacious twin sister dies, a shy teenaged girl moves with her parents to San Francisco, where she meets a magical seamstress who grants her one wish.

It's always hard to fit in to new surroundings, a new school, but for poor Olivia these problems are a thousand fold after the death her twin sister. As she attempts to blend in unnoticed at her school, she learns she must attend a welcoming party at her mom's law firm (which some of her fellow students will also be attending). She needs a dress for the occasion and finds one that belonged to her sister, Violet. It's in need of repair, so she takes it to a seamstress close to home.

It doesn't take long for her to realize there's something different about Posey, the seamstress, and her alterations. The dress that is returned to her is completely different from the one she wanted fixed. Not having time to resolve the confusion, she dons the dress and heads to the party. At one point, she utters a statement, wishing her sister back and discovers a butterfly flying away from the dress. Lo and behold, she wakes up, thinking she's hearing voices which turns out to be her sister, returned to her, (sort of.)

When I first read the premise of this book, I thought Violet actually returned and between the sisters, they shared additional wishes. This is not what happens (I think maybe I read it wrong, lol). It becomes a true tale of be careful what you wish for; sometimes the fall-out is worse than where you started off.

Wish is a cute book, with lots of the sights and sounds of San Francisco described throughout. While there is no villain in the story, I think Olivia's struggles with her conscience represents the most difficult part of the story, along with the coping techniques (or lack of) that come along with the death of a loved one.

The hardest part for me to digest (pun fully intended) were the references to all of the healthy foods, in particular those consumed by the teenagers throughout the story. Maybe I'm just a little out of touch and this may be the norm out there. I will give the author her due, if I were to pick a U.S. city that defined the healthy lifestyle, San Fran would probably be first to mind, with its seeming openness to alternative lifestyles in general (and I don't mean this in a negative way what-so-ever!)

Overall, an enjoyable read.

If you would like to experience Wish through an audio/visual tour, check out this link over to Mel @ He Followed Me Home's blog for the virtual backpacking trip (that I helped create:-)