Review: You Wish by Mandy Hubbard

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard


Who wouldn't like a book where the main character has her very own, real live My Little Pony (hot pink with an ice cream cone on the rump)?


When we first meet Kayla she is just about to turn Sweet Sixteen. Her mother, a party and event planner, has the perfect party all planned out. But, perfect for who? Not Kayla who has be telling her mother all along that nothing about this party sounds fun or even her style. Kayla is more likely to wear a sailor style dress from Old Navy with fishnet stockings and Converse sneakers than to conform to what a typical teenage girl would wear. And her mother is creating a typical Sweet Sixteen party with pink decorations, punch and cake. The only positive point about this party is that her best friend Nicole promises to be there after an anniversary dinner with her boyfriend--not more than an hour late, she says. Several hours later Kayla is set to blow out the candles on her cake and her friend has yet to arrive. Miserable and angry Kayla wishes for all her past birthday wishes to come true since they never have before. And, wouldn't you know it? Kayla wakes up the next day and finds her own lifesize My Little Pony scampering around the yard. Her other wishes include Raggedy Ann coming to life, wanting to be a mermaid and, the one that may be the most detrimental to her life and friendship with Nicole, to be kissed by her crush of three years, Ben, who happens to be Nicole's boyfriend. Then follows a story that has Kayla trying to figure out who she is, who her friends are and how she wants to see the people in her school and life and how they ulitimately should be seeing her.


I liked this story, it was magical and fantasitical humorous and had a good plot that that led us along with Kayla on her journey to try and figure out who she really was--a snarky, against-the-flow loner with minimal friends or a more accepting, open joiner who allowed other people to see the real her and find out that she's pretty likeable after all. She also learns to understand that her father's leaving not only affected her and how she reacts to life but to her mother and brother, as well. The magical aspect of how and why the wishes were granted was pretty much skimmed over and didn't get a big plot point of explanation but that ended up being ok with me because I wanted more to see what the wishes were going to be and how and why she chose them at certain points in life. This book put me in mind of many wish granting movies such as Big, Freaky Friday, 13 Going on 30 and 16 Wishes (which is very much like the book when a Sweet Sixteen wish grants all the wishes of the previous birthdays) were all of the wish recipients learn a lesson about their life and what is best for them.