The Wishing Game

by Meg Shaffer ★★★★★

Lucy Hart is a kindergarten teacher's aide in California, struggling to scrape by on a meager salary. She's estranged from her family, and she fled to California after a bad breakup with her boyfriend back east. The one bright spot in her life is Christopher, a young boy who she tutors after school. Christopher is in the foster system, orphaned during a tragic family situation, and the trauma he still carries breaks Lucy's heart on a daily basis. "A seven-year-old child shouldn't have eyes like a world-weary detective working on a particularly grisly murder case," Lucy says of Christopher. Her dream is to one day adopt Christopher, but with her questionable home situation (she lives with roommates in a low-end apartment), little money, and no car, Lucy can't pass the requirements needed to foster Christopher, much less adopt him outright.

Meanwhile, on a small private island off the coast of Maine, acclaimed and reclusive children's author Jack Masterson toils away in his writing lab. Author of over 60 "Clock Island" books for kids 9-12 years old, Masterson hasn't written a word in six years. But the malaise under which he's been suffering is slowly lifting, and he begins typing out the first few phrases of a new Clock Island book.

Upon completion of the novel, Masterson announces there will be a contest:

My Dear Readers,

I have written a new book—A Wish for Clock Island. There is but one copy in existence, and I plan to give it away to someone very brave, clever, and who knows how to make wishes. Some of my most courageous readers from long ago will be receiving a very special invitation today...

Lucy is one of a group of just four people who receive the mentioned invitation. They're all adults now, but each had interacted in some significant way with Masterson during their childhood. They are invited to compete in a contest of riddles, wits, and skill on Clock Island, the winner of which will receive the one and only copy of the new book, potentially worth upwards of $10M. This is the lifeline Lucy needs to see her adoption dream come true, and she's determined to find a way to win the contest. It helps that there are few bigger Jack Masterson / Clock Island fans than Lucy. She's read all of the books dozens of times, including recently with Christopher. The books—plus a personalized letter from Jack that led to unexpected in-person meeting—helped Lucy get through her own childhood trauma.

Jack is a whimsical raconteur, and he's joined on the island by the illustrator of his books, Hugo Reese, a 30-something Brit with a surly shell but a soft interior. Hugo serves as a sort of unofficial caretaker of Jack and the island, and he acts as a solid foil to Jack's lighthearted unserious approach to life, at least outwardly. As Hugo shares with Lucy, Jack's number one rule is "Never break the spell," and as the contest plays out, we learn that Jack's jovial approach to life is hiding some of his own demons as well.

The contest is interesting, and in some ways is reminiscent of a simpler version of Ready Player One. The other contestants have their own stories and motivations for being there, but they are primarily used to allow us to learn more about the depth of both Jack's and Lucy's character. Ultimately, the contest is really just a vehicle for the novel to explore several weightier themes. Childhood trauma is a sad common thread binding nearly all of the characters in the book, but things never get too unbearably heavy in that area. It also touches on family, forgiveness, and even throws in a bit of romance and a good touch of humor.

This one will get you with "all the feels", as the kids say, with plenty of firm tugs on the heartstrings as Lucy maintains her unflagging focus on a future with Christopher while dealing with the demons of her past. It's a whimsical love letter to children's literature and the impact that a well-crafted children's book can have on so many young lives, a passionate plea to help innocents who have been dealt an unfair hand by life, and an earnest story of people coming together in pursuit of a greater good. Enjoyable and heartwarming.