Customer Reviews

The Wish

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Wilma's two best friends move away and she spends three miserable years in middle school unable to make new friends. The poplular kids ignore her and she avoids the other unpopular ones. When a language arts teacher reads her "Secret Life" essay aloud (she speaks as her dog)things only get worse. Upon giving her seat to an old woman on the N.Y. subway, the woman allows Wilma to make a wish. Wilma's wish is to be the most popular girl in school. Unfortunetly, graduation is three weeks away and school will be over. Will her new friends still like her? Will Jared, her new beau still want to be her boyfriend? This book is ideal for the pre-teen girl looking for a story about friendship or one just becoming interested in boys. We learn what it is like to be popular and unpopular. It has a fairy tale essence although Wilma never actually changes. The wish only affects how others perceive her. Fans of Ella Enchanted and the Princess Tales will enjoy this too.

I've been a fan of Gail Carson Levine since I read ELLA ENCHANTED and her giddy PRINCESS series. Unlike her prvious books this one is set in the here and now, nevertheless Ms Levine manages to put in a touch of magic in the form of an old woman (or is she a witch in disguise) who grants Wilma one wish as a thank you for an act of kindness. Lonely, unpopular Wilma wishes to be "the most popular kid at Claverford" and ends up wondering if she really wanted what she wished for.

This is a sweet funny book that examines the road of popularity and true friendship. It touches a cord in everyone who ever longed to be popular in school. Wilma herself is a believable and very likable girl. Readers of all ages will easily identify with her need to fit in. A funny and poignant read. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Levine.

I really liked this book, even though it is VERY different from Gail Carson Levine's other books. First and foremost, it is actually set in our world, in a school in fact. Usually, I would have stayed away from a book about a school, but considering the author and the promise of fantastic elements, I decided to try it.

I am SO glad that I did. This book in FANTASTIC!!! Unlike most realistic fiction, it never preaches about how terrible cliques and popular people and high school are. Instead, it shows a point of view that is NEVER shown: what it's like inside a clique, and the idea that popular people really DO have the capacity to be nice. I mean, if you want to complain about card-board cutout villains, read a normal realistic fiction book.

There was only one really 1-D character in the book, but this added to the realism; I've met a few people who really act like that. Besides, all the other characters were wonderful, so it didn't really matter.

Wilma, in most aspects, was a good character. I especially loved the way she managed to pull unpopular people into the group without making it seem forced, which is no easy task. The only thing that seemed slightly odd was the romance, but that was just because of the age. It would have worked better if this had been set in highschool, but given the nature of the wish Wilma makes, that wasn't possible.

A certain part of the wish was the only problem in the book; from my point of view, the catch in it seemed rather obvious. But then, I read WAY too much fantasy, and therefore probably understand "watch what you wish for" better than Wilma did. Besides, it wasn't a very big problem, and given that Wilma took two seconds to think about the wish before she made it, it can easily be ignored.

If you like fantasy or realistic fiction, you HAVE to read this book.

HI. I thought the book THE WISH was a great book!!! It was so exciting, and I never knew what was going to happen next!! It was very funny, too. I loved all the characters in the book. It was about a girl named Wilma who made a simple wish to an old lady. Her wish was to be the most popular girl in her school. The next day when she went to school, Wilma was definitly the most popular girl in her school. All the popular girls were friends with her, and were nice to her too. Later, Wilma realizes that her wish to the old lady was to be the most popular girl at her school but Wilma is in the 8th grade graduating in 2 weeks!! Will Wilma be popular for life, or only for 2 more weeks?? You have to read the book to find out!! I think you will definitly like it! I know I did!

8TH grader Wilma Sturtz will stop at nothing to get a hold of fame. Very funny & witty. Fans of Rowling and Byng (Molly Moon) will enjoy this.

If you had one wish, what would it be? In the book The Wish by Gail Carlson Levine, Wilma, the main character, wished for popularity. She was given one wish for helping an elderly lady. Without thinking, she wished to be popular at her school which she would graduate from in just a few weeks. This book would appeal most to girls in grades 6-8.

The Wish is geared towards young adults so it's easy to read and easy to understand. Since Wilma is in 8th grade herself, many of the readers can relate to her problems and understand how she feels.

You need alot of imagination to read this book because it has no pictures or illustrations. The ending is very vague so it's kind of a "create your own ending" book. However, it's very detailed so you can almost see what's going on in your mind.

It's a quick read because it's to read and it goes fast because it's so interesting. Girls ages 11-14 who like stories with magic will definately enjoy this book.

I loved _Ella Enchanted_ and expected _The Wish_ to be as amazing and entertaining. However, I felt as if I was plodding through the reading at times, just trying to get through the text. Though the wish to be popular is something kids can relate to, I think that the book seemed a little preachy and the big fat moral lesson hung a bit too heavy, impeding the pleasure factor.

Again, Mrs. Levine gives me a reason to look foward to reading her next book after reading "The Wish". This book is about the unpopular Wilma whose friends leave her alone in 8th grade where she gets a pretty good boost of hope until a point-of-view essay moves her from okay to unaccepetable. Out of the spot light, one day, She meets a strange lady on a subway whom she lends her seat to. for being so kind, The old lady grants her one wish: "I wish to be the most popular kid in Cleaverford middle shcool." Stepping off the subway, she is the most popular kid in Cleaverford. In school, she recieves about forty notes from boys asking for her to go to cleaverford grad night with them. At home, she has so many people call her, her sister knows when the phones ringing "don't get it, Its for Wilma." And, correct each time. Now, she's best friends with the popular girls, she has a boyfriend, and life couldn't be better. There's still one problem: How long will the spell last? Will she be popular forever?

Read this book for a good laugh, romance, and to see how some of us can really make our dreams come true-- You just have to look inside.

Have you ever felt like a bomb of embarrassment that just went off? Well, the story of Wilma Sturtz was a mirror example of that. Or have you ever wanted something so bad, and then you got it but in the end it didn't go how you planned? Wilma's right at your side for that one too. Wilma has lived in to totally different perspectives, nerd that's pretty much invisible as well as being the most popular girl in all of Claverford Junior High. One day, Wilma was doing her usual ride on the bus home when an old lady was struggling to keep her balance on feet: you can only imagine what Wilma did. The lady was shocked with the kindness in Wilma's heart. "I'll tell you what how about I give you a wish." "Really, that's unnecessary; I just gave you my seat." From there on, Wilma was the most popular girl at Claverford, living the life of her dreams. She didn't even have to act like anyone other than herself; she was just magically appealing to everyone. Wilma Sturtz was so amazing to everyone that for the Night Dance (a big eighth grade dance), Wilma got around 25 invitations to it! She was amazed with her fountain effect of popularity. Jared, yes, the one eye-browed Jared, starts to love Wilma, or maybe he did all along and there starts to be an obtuse triangle of love beginning to happen. Jared might not be the popular, good-looking jock, but for Wilma, he's perfect. But will it stay that way? Not only does Wilma feel great for being so well liked, but also is thankful for feeling like she fit in. Instead of being lonely, unwanted for the dances, and no one to fool around with, she now has three popular friends that are more than just popular, but nice. Ardis, Nina, and Beebee are always at her side whenever she needs someone to lean. But will it end up like that? Well, I guess that's giving you the clue to read the book!

I think that Gail Carson Levine is an astounding writer and I'd love to read another one of her books. She was such a vivid writer for you to feel embarrassment or sorrow for the characters at times. She is now one of my favorite writers. She turned such a simple junior high plot into such a complex love story. She really has talent to be able to do that.

I really enjoyed this book because on like some other books, it really kept me reading and thinking about what tragic event was happening in the story. I kept telling myself just one more chapter, wait tell a stopping point. If you leave off here, you'll go crazy! But the problem was, there was no stopping point! I thought this was an outstanding book, but the one thing that annoyed me was that the ending of the story was kind of abrupt. But, being the fabulous book with a fabulous writer, it didn't seem to get to me that much. Just be careful what you wish for, and always ask old ladies on the bus if they'd like to take your seat, you'll like it, just wait and see.

A girl named Wilma Strurz was a very unpopular kid at school. At least that's what she thought until she meet an old lady on the subway. The old lady granted Wilma one wish. Wilma wished to be the most popular kid at school. Wilma had more friends than she could count and forty dates for the Grad Night Dance. Wilma finally realized that her popularity may not last forever. The thing I liked about this book was that it was exciting to read and what I didn't like was that this book was that it didn't make sense if you read it really fast. This book would be best for girls at the age of 13, if you read at a medium speed, and if you are into fantasies.