The Wishing Game

Starred review from March 6, 2023
Shaffer blends tragedy and triumph in a whimsical and gratifying debut romance about what makes a family. At 13, Lucy Hart ran away from home to escape neglectful parents, wishing instead to live with Jack Masterson—the bestselling author of her favorite children’s books, the Clock Island series—on the real-life counterpart to Clock Island. That dream didn’t pan out. Now, 13 years later, she’s a kindergarten teacher’s aide desperate to adopt seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, an orphaned former student of hers, but she needs more money and greater stability in order to make it happen. Hugo Reese, Jack’s illustrator and surrogate son, is concerned when Jack abruptly comes out of a six-year retirement to invite Lucy and three other former runaways and superfans to Clock Island, where they’ll compete for the only copy of a brand new Clock Island book. Jack puts the contestants through a series of challenges and riddles designed to mimic the adventures in his books, and along the way, readers will come to root for all four to succeed—and for Hugo and Lucy to fall in love. Shaffer doesn’t shy away from the darkness in her characters’ backstories even as she delivers childlike wonder in spades. This is wish fulfilment in the best way. Agent: Amy Tannenbaum, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

April 1, 2023
A young woman's dreams are in the hands of an eccentric author. Lucy Hart is a 26-year-old kindergarten teacher's assistant, desperate to adopt her orphaned former student, Christopher Lamb. Unfortunately, she lacks the funds. When Lucy wins a chance to compete in a game devised by reclusive children's book author Jack Masterson, she hopes the competition will be the answer to her problems. Jack lives on a private island off the coast of Maine with his pet raven and his only friend, Hugo Reese, who illustrated his books, and, after years of silence, he's finally written the next installment in his Clock Island series. Dismissing conventional channels for publishing, Jack has decided that whoever wins his competition can do whatever they like with the only copy of his book. Thus four competitors descend on the eponymous Clock Island--all of them former runaways who had gone to Jack's island as children seeking reprieve from less-than-idyllic circumstances, and all of whom, in adulthood, have problems that only Jack can solve. Jack's game starts off as a series of riddles (ones that readers will enjoy solving alongside the competitors) but quickly turns into something deeper as Jack, acting in the role of the Mastermind from his books, makes the competitors confront their traumas. Despite the sinister-sounding nature of the competition, Shaffer posits Jack as fatherly and loving, and Lucy and her opponents are mostly happy to play along. Shaffer's characters are not fully developed, and Jack's motives in particular feel a little trite. But, somewhat two-dimensional characters notwithstanding, readers will appreciate the interplay of whimsy and realism on the island: "Jack's number one rule was Don't break the spell. Lucy was under the spell of Jack Masterson, of Clock Island. Hugo wasn't about to tell her that it wasn't as wonderful as it looked, that the mysterious, mystical, magical Mastermind...had been drinking himself into an early grave for the past six years." A meditation on the power of hope when all else seems lost.

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April 1, 2023
Reclusive writer Jack Masterson has delighted children for years with his Clock Island books. After a sorrowful break from writing, Jack has announced a new title and a Willy Wonka-style contest for his most devoted readers: come to the real-life Clock Island and win the only copy of the new manuscript. Lucy Hart has spent her life feeling rejected and alone. Her parents abandoned her long ago for her ailing older sister. Now, she wants to adopt an orphaned boy and make a new family. The trouble is, she's too poor to help. Jack's contest is her one chance to make a new life for herself and her would-be son, Christopher. Jack's dearest friend and illustrator, Hugo Reese, wants to get off of Clock Island. Everyone will come together to solve riddles, play games, and ultimately face their fears to help Jack recover from his sadness, Hugo find his freedom, and Lucy get the family she's always longed for. Magical, emotional, and charming.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.