The Wishmakers by Tyler Whitesides

This fantasy series opener sends one young “wishmaker” and his personal genie on a wild ride to save the world—with consequences attached.

The Wishmakers by Tyler Whitesides (illustrated by Jessica Warrick).  Harper, 2018, 325 pages.

Reading level: Middle Grades, 10-12

Recommended for: ages 8-12

For Ace, it all started when he opened the peanut-butter jar.  He just wanted to make a sandwich, but what he gets instead is a genie.  Ridge (as he introduces himself) looks like a kid, but things have changed a lot in the genie line since Aladdin.  Such as: Ace gets unlimited wishes, not just three.  And his wish-granting power comes with a quest to find an evil villain and stop certain global disaster.  And, every wish comes with a consequence—the bigger the wish, the greater the cost, so much so that some wishes are not worth making. Ace soon learns to make baby-step wishes, and next he’ll have to learn to share the privilege with another wishmaker (Tina), who’s one another quest with her own genie.  How many wishmakers are running around in this world?  And will one quest obliterate the goals of another?

It’s a wild ride, alternately hilarious and exasperating—to this reader.  The action is too random for me, but probably won’t be to your average wacky-adventure lover, who may or may not be of the male persuasion.  The wish/consequence continuum is an interesting wrinkle, though, especially how one has to be balanced against the other.  Also, when do the consequences pile up past one’s ability to even function?  The most irritating factor, to me, is constant references to “the Universe,” who (or which) is behind all the disruptions of natural phenomena.  The Universe apparently has some goal in all this but it’s hard to figure out what that is (compare to the “Magicverse,” in The 11:11 Wish).  Fantasies, and even realistic novels with fantasy elements, are beginning to rely on the Big U more and more to justify the supernatural—as if our culture, in rejecting God, still needs something to take his place.  This could be a deal-breaker for the parents, or it could be an opportunity to talk it over with thoughtful young readers—how is the Universe like God? How not?  At any rate, the adventure continues . . .

Cautions: Worldview (see review)

Overall rating: 3.5 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.25
• Artistic value: 3.75