One True Wish

February 15, 2023
Four kids help a fallen fairy return home. Sixth graders Birdie and Gem have been best friends since they were 3, but lately things have been a little off. Gem is uncomfortable about the changes puberty has brought to her body and the objectifying remarks a boy at school keeps making; Birdie, meanwhile, is confused about her friend's volatile emotions and is feeling left behind. Van, new to Texas from Ireland, is homesick and missing their friends. The three, along with Marley, Gem's slightly younger brother, are thrown together when disgraced fairy Phoebe crash-lands on Earth. The only way to save her is to help her manifest each of their true wishes. Each kid thinks they know their deepest desire, but they have to peel away the layers to get to the wish's true core. Told through alternating points of view and swiftly paced, the book homes in on understanding and acknowledging the real reasons why we want things, not just the solutions we think will bring us happiness. It steers clear of becoming a tired allegory about adolescence, instead thoughtfully focusing on navigating the challenges of changing bodies and relationships. The young people ultimately discover what matters most: friendship. Van is nonbinary. Most characters read White; Gem and Marley are Jewish. A charming and engaging story in which friendship prevails. (Fantasy. 9-13)

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April 10, 2023
Four tweens navigating personal troubles must help a disgraced fairy return to her realm in this lightly fantastical novel by Kate (By Any Other Name, for adults). Sixth grader Birdie has been struggling to interpret her best friend Gemima’s erratic behavior ever since Gem started puberty; Gem has similarly been wrestling with her own developing body and feeling that no one understands her. Meanwhile, newcomer Van, Birdie’s nonbinary neighbor from Ireland, is miserable having to go between their divorced parents’ homes. Each tween is preoccupied with their own internal challenges when Phoebe, a fairy from the North Star with the ability to grant wishes, crash-lands in their Texas town. Phoebe regales the group with the story of how she was cast out from her realm because she questioned the existence of children, a vital belief of the fairies’ magical system. To restore her power and return her to the North Star, Birdie, Gem, and Van, joined by Gem’s younger brother Marley, must convince Phoebe that children are real. Kate fittingly centers the four kids, thoughtfully developing each of their personalities and conflicts, and providing grounding realism to the fanciful, wish-granting premise. Most characters are white; Gem and Marley are white and Jewish. Ages 10–up.