Just One Wish - Hardcover

Rallison, Janette

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399246185 ISBN 13: 9780399246180

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, 2009

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman knows about the power of positive thinking. With a little brother who has cancer, it?s all she ever hears about. And in order to help Jeremy, she will go to the ends of the earth (or at least as far as Hollywood) to help him believe he can survive his upcoming surgery.

But Annika?s plan to convince Jeremy that a magic genie will grant him any wish throws her a curveball when he unexpectedly wishes that his television idol would visit him. Annika suddenly fi nds herself in the desperate predicament of getting access to a hunky star actor and convincing him to come home with her. Piece of cake, right?

Janette Rallison?s proven talent for laugh-out-loud humor, teen romance, and deep-hearted storytelling shines in a novel that will have readers laughing and crying at the same time.

About this title

About the Author

Janette Rallison is the author of the bestselling All’s Fair in Love, War and High School and a number of popular romantic comedies. She lives in Chandler, Arizona.

Reviews

Grade 7–10—This screwball comedy-cum-heartfelt drama is by turns far-fetched, enjoyable, and touching. Seventeen-year-old Annika's little brother, Jeremy, is about to undergo surgery for cancer. The teen promises him that she has a genie that will bring his favorite TV character, Teen Robin Hood, to meet him. In what seems like too much of a sitcom plot, Annika drives several hours, invades the show's set, and persuades its star to come home with her. He's on a tight schedule. Paparazzi attack them. His car breaks down. Steve and Annika fall in love, adding a sweet, but uncertain, romance to the mix. She also learns that he has a family situation of his own to resolve. Questions about the meaning of life and whether there is a caring God give the book heft but don't always jibe with its lighter aspects. Annika is a resourceful, kindhearted heroine, and her Robin Hood has dimension as well. The novel is interesting enough to attract reluctant readers, and it makes a fine, if not necessary, addition to the chick-lit shelf.—Tina Zubak, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
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Rallison has become known for her girls’ sports fiction, with light, breezy tones, sometimes didactic messages, and satisfying happy endings. Here she deviates from this formula, as 17-year-old Annika tries desperately to get TV-star Steve Raleigh, of Teen Robin Hood fame, to visit her six-year-old brother, Jeremy, before the brain-tumor surgery that may or may not save his life. Despite the circumstances, madcap adventures abound: Annika’s attempts to infiltrate the Burbank studio set during the filming of the show, disguised as an animal handler with a huge snake, are predictable but delightful. Her initial reaction to Steve is distaste and disgust—which means that soon enough they are a romantic item. However, what drives this story is not their romance, but rather Annika’s love for her little brother and the courage she displays as she tries to save him. The sibling relationship between Annika and Jeremy is both believable and heartrending—get out your handkerchiefs! Grades 7-11. --Debbie Carton

Edition details

• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399246185
• ISBN 13: 9780399246180
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272