The Wishing Game: A Novel

This may be my favorite standalone book I’ve read all year. First of all, Clock Island is magical. The writing transports you right there, and I was sad when the book was over and I had to leave.

My favorite character was Jack, he felt like the picture of altruism, compassion and warmth.

I did not find any of the storylines problematic like many other readers did. The relationship between Lucy and Christopher did not feel creepy at all. She wasn’t secretly pining for this child, she even meets with his adoption caseworker. There were no ill intentions there. Maybe a bit of an unrealistic fantasy, but other than that, as a former educator, I related very much to Lucy wanting to save a child from their difficult home life.

The ending had me sobbing happy tears.

This book made me feel, deeply. I feel that this has the potential to be a series and I hope there will someday be a book two.

Loved this one. Made me nostalgic for the books that got me reading when I was a kid.

3.25 stars. Totally understand why this book was selected for so many awards. This is the type of book someone should read when you feel like life is beating you down and you need a "pick me up", and its is packaged with a nice big bow. It's sweet, charming, and a touch mysterious. Lucy Harts full life story unfolds over ~300 pages and you can't help but feel your heart strings tug. Also, she is an avid reader, albeit a little obsessed with one children's book series- "The Clock Island" series. Hugo and Jack play important roles in this book as well... as does Charlie. The book was definitely exciting and intriguing at parts, but fell a little flat for me at others.

When I started this book I thought that it would just be a sweet story but it was so much more! I laughed, I cried and I was so touched and inspired by Lucy and her story.

I adored this book and love every minute of it. Lucy Hart is a teachers’s aide and would love to be a mother to a foster child, Christopher, whom she has been close to for the past two years. She’s young and broke, living with roommates and doesn’t have her own car, making it hard for the foster care system to even consider her as an adoptive parent. She knows what it is like being lonely as a child, since her parents showered all their attention on her older sister who was sickly. When her favorite children’s author announces a contest to win rights to his next book in a popular series, Lucy is eager to participate. She even met the author, Jack Mastermind, when she was 13 and wanted to be his sidekick.

Jack currently lives on Clock Island which is set up to simulate the setting of his books. Hugo, his illustrator, has been living with him on the island for the past six years while Jack is dealing with the aftermath of a troubling incident. Lucy is selected to be one of the contestants to win the book but the challenges posed are daunting - solving word puzzles and brain teasers. As a former school librarian at an elementary school, I was enthralled by this book and the enthusiasm children have for this series. The games are tricky and clever