The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner - ESSENTIAL

Messner, Kate The Seventh Wish 224 pages, Bloomsbury Publishing, $16.99

Language G; Mature Content:PG; Violence: G  

Charlie feels forgotten.  Her parents are always there for her older sister and seem to care for her more.  Charlie’s older sister gets all the attention around her house and Charlie kind of hates her parents and sister for that, but all of that changes when she finds a wonderful surprise while ice fishing.  A fish that will grant her a wish if she lets it free. When Charlie starts her long list of wishes, they really don’t work out. Her friend passed an English test, but is failing her classes.  Another friend gets onto the basketball team but can’t seem to have the talent to stay on the team.  When Charlie’s fifth wish gets the wrong outcome, her life travels downhill from there.  Charlie and her family find out a terrible secret her older sister, Abby has been keeping from them.  Will Charlie be able to forgive her family for making her feel like she’s forgotten or will she be forever lost in her sister’s shadow.  

I really did like this book.  It taught me a lot about how I can deal with some of my problems and that hard trials can bring an entire family together in the end.  Mature Content is rated PG because Charlie’s older sister became addicted to heroin and there is a lot of talk about drugs and the effects it has on people.  

MS - ESSENTIAL Student Reviewer: JM(8th grade)