Entah kenapa sejak membaca buku Ella Enchanted, saya jadi suka dengan novel-novelnya Levine. Termasuk yang satu ini. Ceritanya tentang Wilma, seorang gadis remaja tanggung yang tiba-tiba menjadi tanpa teman sejak dua sahabatnya pindah sekolah. Dan keadaan bertambah buruk sejak gurunya membacakan essay yang bertema 'my secret life'nya yang menceritakan perumpamaan dirinya dengan Reggie, anjing piaraannya. Sejak itu semua teman-teman di sekolahnya mengenalnya sebagai Wilma yang suka mengendus-endus. 'woof!' Dan bukan popularitas seperti itu yang diinginkannya.Hidupnya berubah seratus delapan puluh derajat ketika dalam sebuah angkutan umum, Wilma memberikan tempat duduk bagi seorang nenek tua yang mengatakan bahwa dirinya bisa mengabulkan satu permohonan. Wilma yang menganggap ini semua adalah guyonan, meminta dirinya utnuk dijadikan gadis paling populer di sekolah. Begitu kakinya menginjak pekarangan sekolah, Wilma disapa semua orang! Dan dirinya resmi menjadi gadis-paling-populer-di-sekolah dan berteman dengan genk gadis populer!Tapi teteup dong, yang namanya pemberian kalo bukan dari Tuhan mah gak bakal sempurna *ceilee berat amat* dan begitu juga dengan permohonannya Wilma. Contohnya nih, Wilma nggak populer di luar sekolahnya, dan pesta perpisahan sudah di depan mata. Begitu dia lulus dari sekolahnya dan pindah ke sekolah lain untuk melanjutkan, Wilma tak akan lagi populer! Apa yang harus dia lakukan?Wilma mencari-cari si nenek tua untuk meralat permohonannya. Namun tentu saja nggak ketemu. Dan akhirnya Wilma mengumpulkan teman-temannya setelah acara perpisahan dan jika kepopulerannya luntur, dia bermaksud menceritakan semuanya kepada mereka.See? ceritanya simpel aja kan? Tapi pas untuk remaja tanggung yang pusing mencari tempat diantara teman-temannya yang populer. Penting banget gak sih berkelompok dengan org populer? Jadi inget, dulu waktu SMP saya gitu gak ya? Hmm.. rasanya tidak, secara setiap orang sepertinya ingin berteman denganku *cuih!* hahahaa...!Anyway, good book and deserve 4 stars! Cihuuyy..!
I love this book! It's amazing. I've read it four or five times, it's that good. "The Wish" is about a girl who doesn't fit in at her school (she's invisible, she's not very popular, you get the picture, right?). Until she helped an old lady, who turned out to actually be a witch. The witch granted her one wish, so she wished to be the most popular girl at her school. Now, the girl had tons of friends, and everyone liked her. People wanted to be like her, everyone wanted to be her friend, and every boy wanted to go out with her. Except, she didn't really word her wish properly. She wished to be the most popular girl at HER school, but she was graduating that year, so she was moving to a different school, next year, which would put an end to her wish. The girl kept trying to find the witch, to try to be granted another wish, but the witch wouldn't allow it. This book is nice, romantic, funny, and dramatic. I recommend it to anyone, really. But remember: Be Careful What You Wish For And if not, at least word your wishes wisely ;)
What do You think about The Wish (2000)?
To be honest I had very high expectations for this book. This book was recommended by a good friend of mine and the plot of this novel is very creative. In the book William is given the chance to make a wish. When she wishes to be the most popular girl in her school the path of the story opens many doors. Later, there would be a hiccup to her wish which would make her realize that you would be careful of what you wish for. Although, in the end I was quite disappointed how the story carried on. It didn't live up to its full potential as a story. I would say it was a very ordinary book. There wasn't much spark or drive to the plot. On the contrary the characters seemed to their own unique and quirky personalities making it fun to see how they react to certain scenarios. Also, this story did make it seem realistic on how an outcast would react to a sudden growth in social status. All in all, this book wasn't the best I have ever read, and far from it. Personally I won't recommend this book because it seemed too dull for my taste.
—Kelly DeLeon
Insecure and invisible Wilma is an 8th grader at a private school in New York City. She has no friends at school and people "look right through her" in the hallways. She even gets teased for writing an essay in an English class because it's different than the others. One day, as she rides the train to school, she notices an old woman standing and offers the woman her seat. This small act of kindness leads to a magical reward that Wilma never wants to see the end of. Suddenly, she has friends and admirers and long gone are the days of her dog Reggie being the only one there for her; she is popular. This book was a fairly quick read, though slow in a few sections. Gail Carson Levine does an excellent job of speaking in the voice of the age group; I felt as though I was reading a book written by an 8th grade girl! That being said, I found it difficult to keep my attention because it was so relevant to a much younger crowd. This is exactly the kind of book I would read as a middle schooler and definitely reminded me of that time of life. The book displayed pretty heavy handed morals/universal themes (be kind to animals, do the right thing even if it's not popular, include those who feel left out, etc.) which is perfect for the age group. The characters were flat and hyper-focused on one or two elements of their roles.
—Julie Thimmig
I liked this but it didn't interest my 8 yo or my 6 yo daughters...think they'd need to be a little older to relate to the main character Wilma. Wilma gets what she wishes for ... to be the most popular kid at Claverford Junior High...but there's only a couple of weeks left and then she will no longer be popular. Can she find a way to stay popular? I liked that Wilma didn't change who she was once she became popular...and she was willing to be friends with those who weren't popular. I think 5-8 graders would be able to relate to this.
—Jenny
