ORPHAN WISH ISLAND

An orphan’s trip through a magic door to a tropical island brings wishes from her dead parents.

On Miriam’s 12th birthday, four years after her parents’ deaths, glowing words on the attic door beckon her to Orphan Wish Island. Only orphans are invited annually to the tropical paradise where they hear a message from their parents, receive one of the six wishes their parents left for them, and get to make a wish of their own. Readers follow Miriam from seventh grade through senior year. Unfortunately, the story is at the mercy of the timeline: trying to cover growing pains from middle school through high school leaves her life lightly sketched, not fully embodying her character at any age; the supporting cast is also not deeply developed. There is a saccharine, moralistic quality to the writing, and seemingly insignificant elements are mentioned in great detail while larger events are puzzlingly skimmed over. The most emotionally authentic voice is found when Miriam’s grandmother ends up in the hospital—at this point the tension is palpable and the writing is tighter. Miriam lives in a seemingly all-White community in which receiving a car at age 16 is the norm along with tutoring when grades slip and private music lessons. The interplay between this existence and the magical island falls flat as a device for exploring parental loss. However, the love between Miriam and her grandmother is quite sweet.

A poorly developed premise struggles to become a compelling story.