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The Wishing Game

by Meg Shaffer

A book contest with a life-changing prize

Regular price $18.34 USD
Regular price $30.57 USD Sale price $18.34 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    The Washington Post Best Book of the Year

    Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A book contest with a life-changing prize

Lucy Hart’s hope of becoming a family with her young student Christopher is bound up with the stories that once offered her solace. When the reclusive author Jack Masterson returns with a new book and a contest on Clock Island, the competition gives Lucy a chance to pursue that hope. The setup brings together a fictional children’s-book series, a prized manuscript, and questions of care, belonging, and the lasting place childhood reading can hold in adult life. The contest also places Lucy among collectors and fellow competitors, including the series illustrator, making books both the object of the challenge and a link between the characters.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • For readers interested in stories about found family, caregiving, and belonging.
  • For readers who enjoy fiction centered on books, authors, and childhood reading.
  • For readers drawn to a competition built around a coveted manuscript and an island setting.

Themes

Found family and caregivingChildhood reading and its lasting influenceBelonging and hopeBooks, authorship, and collecting

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Years ago, a reclusive mega-bestselling children's author quit writing under mysterious circumstances. Suddenly he resurfaces with a brand-new book and a one-of-a-kind competition, offering a prize that will change the winner's life in this absorbing and whimsical novel.

"Clever, dark, and hopeful . . . a love letter to reading and the power that childhood stories have over us long after we've grown up."--V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Washington Post, She Reads, Bookreporter

Make a wish. . . .

Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it's like to grow up without parents who loved her. In a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy found her solace in books, namely the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher's aide, she is able to share her love of reading with bright, young students, especially seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, who was left orphaned after the tragic death of his parents. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.

But be careful what you wish for. . . .

Just when Lucy is about to give up, Jack Masterson announces he's finally written a new book. Even better, he's holding a contest at his home on the real Clock Island, and Lucy is one of the four lucky contestants chosen to compete to win the one and only copy.

For Lucy, the chance of winning the most sought-after book in the world means everything to her and Christopher. But first she must contend with ruthless book collectors, wily opponents, and the distractingly handsome (and grumpy) Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island books. Meanwhile, Jack "the Mastermind" Masterson is plotting the ultimate twist ending that could change all their lives forever.

. . . You might just get it.
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