Careful What You Wish For

Eshana knows there are websites out there which prey on users, and she realizes she should avoid them at all costs. But I-WISH seems pretty straightforward, and the website layout looks like a fairyland. How bad could it be? Eshana needs help from somewhere since she is being bullied at school and no one seems to like her. She just wishes she had some friends and that evil Queen Cara would stay out of her way. If talking to Wise One and explaining her issues will grant her wishes and solve her problems, Eshana thinks it would be an easy way out of her sad life and wouldn’t hurt anyone. Or would it?

Eshana is a likeable young woman who is a good student but socially insecure and a bit naïve. Only after some soul-searching and some intervention from her friends does she realize that the life she has is okay the way it is and that wishing for some other type of life might not be worth the cost she has to pay. In this coming-of-age story, Eshana learns that being a loner and something of an introvert are parts of her personality to be accepted rather than erased.

The themes of the book include internet safety for young people as well as the terrible effects of bullying on the victim. There is also an interesting fantasy arc as the internet wizard seems able to give Eshana whatever she wishes for, albeit not always doing it in ways she might expect.

Careful What You Wish For is part of the “Orca Anchor'' series of high interest, low vocab novels. It will appeal to older elementary students and early high schools but is at a 1.9 reading level. Typical of this genre, the book has only 75 pages, and there is plenty of white space per page so the text is not overwhelming. The themes are suggested but not examined in detail given the length of the story. Young adult readers will enjoy Eshana’s personality, the fantasy angle of the plot and the page-turner quality of the book as they wonder just what she’ll wish for and, more importantly, how that wish will be answered.

In the end, Eshana learns the importance of simply being – and liking – herself, just as she is!