Customer Reviews

Wish

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book, “The Wish”, by Gail Carson Levine, is a fantasy book. It takes place in modern times at Claverford School where Wilma, who has trouble fitting in, is quiet, shy, kind, and self-conscious of her short brown hair and beaver teeth. She is in eight grade and ever since her two best friends left the school, Wilma has made no other friends and is now unpopular and invisible to the popular boys and girls in her grade…but things are about to change. After Wilma helps a mysterious old lady onto a bus, on her way to school, her wish gets granted of becoming the most popular kid at Claverford. Now, things are looking up for Wilma and she even has forty invitations to the school dance and is excited about her eighth grade graduation. But, there is a twist to her wish. Will Wilma remain popular forever?

I thought that this book was unique and amusing. The plot of the story kept me thinking about what was going to happen and it kept me reading. I recommend this book for readers of ages nine through twelve and people who enjoy magical themes and are interested in the events of a teenage girl’s social life. So get your hands on a copy of “The Wish”.

"What is your wish?" she asked ...... "I can make your wish come true.... You will be a cool cat."
"I want to be the most popular kid at claverford," I blurted out.
She frowned. Is it wise....? All right, dear. Granted."

The title says it all. The book is about the wish Wilma says to the old lady she gave her seat to on the subway. Wilma does become popular, but after a while she realizes it is only for two weeks; until her graduation. Once she graduates from Claverford, she will no longer be popular.
She takes advantage of this and goes on dates, gets a boyfriend and goes to sleepovvers. She is friends with the other popular kids and finally feels like she belongs. Wilma doesn't become a snob though, and acts like she always does: nice and funny at times.
Wilma has a dog, Reggie, she adores and she wants to become a special veterinarian. You can tell she is big on animals. She does think too much on what other people think, but then on the other hand, don't we all?
The atmosphere of the book is usually tense, like whenever Wilma does something dumb or 'uncool', like when she brought Reggie to the sleepover, she thinks the other popular girls won't like her anymore. They live in New York so the place is full of tall buildings and is always busy. Everyone lives in appartments, some nicer than others, like one of the other popular girl's.
Gail Carson Levine is the author of Ella Enchanted which was a Newbery Honary Book and was turned into a movie. She wrote the Princess Tales book, Dave at Night and The Two Princesses of Bamarre (which I really want to read). As you can tell she writes books for girls around 11 to 14 years.
This was a good book and finished at the right time, not right after the graduation but after explanations were told and a last encounter with the old lady who started the whole thing.

This book was OK. I thought it started out pretty well, and it stayed well untill about the last 1/4 of the book. After that everything got a bit shakey and kind of stupid. I guess its for a younger age group than myself, Im 17. Usually I enjoy books like this but this time i just though it was a little but too, uummm, picture perfect. It to me was just kind of a stilly ending. If you decide to read this book you will see what I mean. I give Gail props for the begining, I think the begining was awsome, it just seemed like she threw together the end. But dont take my oppinion, its a decent book and its work 6 bucks I guess. Give it a try.

When I first added this book to my favorites I thought it would be pretty good. It started out really funny with the dog essay and what not, and I could really relate to Wilma how she felt she was so alone. I loved how she loved dogs and *almost* obsessed over them. After she made "the wish" the book turned to a very predictable turn. I noticed what she said for her wish would backfire right aways, and other things like who her boyfriend was going to be but the ending was a just desserts. I found that Wilma picked a very incredibly shallow wish and she got what she deserved at the end. And the description? New york was accurate but did I really need to know all about Wilma's boyfriends "rules" with such description? Well, all-in-all this is a good book for a ninth grader or a kid in middle school, a hopeless romantic, but not immature people or high school kids, or adults. It was hard to put down *at first*, but when it got near the end, it got pretty lame. I'm only giving it three stars for the beginning and middle but near the end of the book gets 2 to 1 stars. Just another average preteen drama.

The Wish comes true!

Imagine a book about a teenage girl who is unpopular at her middle school and only has a
few friends. Her only dream is to be popular at school. One day she is on the subway on the way to school, and she sees an old lady on the subway trying to find seat, but they are all taken. Wilma decides to give her seat up to the old lady. The lady is so appreciative that she offers to grant Wilma a wish. Wilma thinks this old lady is out of her mind, so she says no thank you. The lady insists, so Wilma makes her wish to be popular.

When I read this book, I felt like I was there, right smack- dab in the middle of all of the chaos that was going on in Wilma's, the main character's, life. I liked the way Levine described each of the characters and the way Wilma thought about each one of them.

Wilma was an unpopular teenage girl who wished to be popular more than anything. I liked the theme that Levine chose for this book because it was realistic and that is one of the only things that goes on in this book. Who can believe that one day a girl is not popular and then she meets and old lady on the subway who grants her wish to be popular and "poof!" All of a sudden the next day she is popular.

It is a little bit too unimaginable. If an author is going to write a fantasy book, I think all of the characteristics of the book should be fantasy; it is way too hard to imagine the things that happen in a fantasy book actually happening in real life.

The Wish
By: Gail Carson Levine
Reviewed by: M. Law
Period: 1

Wilma Sturtz used to have no friends. But when an old lady offers her a wish, she wishes to be the most popular girl at Claverford. Suddenly she is surrounded with popular people that she had once dreamed of associating with. She now has forty dates to Grad night, and a secret admirer that is writing her love poetry. Wilma really ended up getting exactly what she wished for. But then Wilma discovers that she may only have sixteen more days of school, and only sixteen more days of popularity.
I really enjoyed this book because it really relates to real life. There really are a lot of kids out there that are like Wilma before she gets her wish and lots of kids that are like Wilma after she gets her wish. Before the wish, Wilma Sturtz was very unpopular. She was often ignored or treated unrespected. But after the wish, she was popular even if she couldn't use chopsticks or rollerblade. She was popular no matter what.
I really disliked the part in the story when Wilma and her boyfriend would kiss and sort of make out because she was after all only thirteen. It isn't really common when an 8th grader has had her or his first kiss. I think Wilma and Jared kissed way too much.
The two funniest parts in the story was when Wilma brings her dog to the sleepover and the dog pees, and when her teacher reads her about being a dog. I started laughing out loud it was so funny. These were my favorite parts because I like books that make me laugh. This book did exactly that. This has been the best book I have ever read. It is my favorite book.

Life for Wilma wasn't all that great since her friends moved away. It didn't get any better after her teacher read her essay aloud in class making her social standing even lower than it already was. But little did she know that when she gave an old lady her seat on the bus, her wish for popularity would come true. She would make some friends and even meet a boy. It was all too good to be true. Could she keep her popularity? Did it all end at the end of the school year? Would she remember it all if everything went back to normal?

This book was just okay compared to Gail Carson Levaine's previous works. Set in modern times its about a girl named Wilma who is very unpopular. Wilma wishs she could be the most popular girl in her current school. Classic story, being popular wasn't that great yada yada yada you know the rest. What's different about this story is she only wishs she could be popular in her current school. When she graduates she's not popular anymore. In the end you never know if she keeps her popular friends, but she does keep her one eyebrowed new boyfriend. Read it but don't blame me when you're left hanging in the end.

I loved "The Wish" and thats why i would rate it a five. I think Gail Carson Levine is a great author and can't wait to read more of her books! Im going to Borders today to buy one of her books! :-)

this was a good book! It's about a girl named Wilma who is in 8th grade. One day she gives her seat on the bus to an old lady. The old lady gives her one wish for doing a good deed. Wilma tells her that she wants to be the most popular person at her school. At school, everyone writes her notes and about 40 guys ask her to the school dance. Wilma then realizes that she can only be popular for a few more weeks because she is graduating from her school and going to high school. Can she still be popular? Find out when you read the book! I am doing it for a book report for school. I think that girls in middle school will most enjoy it, because anyone younger does not know what teenagers are going thru! ReAd ThIs BoOk!!!