Friday, June 24, 2011

Book Review for The Fourth Wish by Elizabeth Varaden

The Fourth Wish





The Fourth Wish by Elizabeth Varaden
CreateSpace
Ages 9-12  
210 Pages
ISBN# 978-1440413063
Children’s Chapter Book    
Elizabeth Varadan is a retired teacher who lives in Sacramento with her husband and their loveable mutt, Cezar. Her story, "Golden Eggs and a Silvery Voice" appeared in the April, 2008 issue of Ladybug. Her adult stories have appeared in The Rockford Review, Word Riot, Art Times, Long Story Short, Flash Me Magazine, Epiphany, Melic Review, Whim's Place, Laughter Loaf, C-Oasis, and Banyon Review. She is currently working on a historical juvenile that involves a ghost and a time fantasy that involves the Olympic Games. 


The Fourth Wish is a tale woven with a combination of magic, family and fun. 
Melanie, along with her brother Cory, sister Erin and their neighbor Arthur, decide to go to a magic show where The Great Mondo was going to perform his latest tricks. On the way to the show, the children run into someone unexpected, a Mrs. Seraphina. She was a little old lady who was crossing the street when her grocery bag broke. The children help her and that’s where their problems begin.
For helping her, Mrs. Seraphina gives each child a wish in a box, but they must each agree on the wish. The first wish was given to Cory who wished that The Great Mondo could do real tricks. After the wish was made, Mrs. Seraphina abruptly disappears and the children are left to wonder. When they arrive at the magic show, all seems normal, until The Great Mondo can actually read minds, especially Cory’s. Then rabbits run all over the place out of Mondo’s hat, the owner of the establishment levitates above the crowd, many other weird things happen. The children realize that their wish had come true. Who was this Mrs. Seraphina? They didn’t know, but what they did know was that she had some unspeakable power.  
 As the story continues realizations about her begin to unfold, yet she is also left more into mystery. Melanie makes her wish, to return everything back to the way it was. In her heart she means that more than just one way. Melanie’s parents were divorced and her father rarely talked to them anymore. Her own life needed fixing, there was no doubt, but she decided to fix Mondo’s life instead. However, her wish changed Mondo’s life back to what it was before his big magic show break—he was a taxi driver in a job he didn’t like. That made for more new problems and feelings. Erin’s wish was next, but being the youngest in the group, she enjoyed food, so she wished for a Ka-Billion Crullers (which are like donuts), down at Daisy Donuts. Though her wish caused these crullers to just about fill up the restaurant, it also gave them some much needed publicity. 
Now it was Arthur’s turn to make a wish, but what will that wish be? Mondo’s life needing fixing, but so did the groups in different ways. Was this going to be the ending that Mrs. Seraphina was secretly going for? And what lessons will the children learn?  
Children from the ages of 9-12 are going to enjoy this 210 page chapter book. It is entertaining and hard to put down. The reader will be consumed in finding out what each child’s wish is going to be and why they make it. Children are sometimes so consumed in their own lives that they don’t see the bigger scheme of things. Children will be lured in by the mysteriousness of Mrs. Seraphina and her intentions, and wonder if they will ever see her again. The story has a moral, of course, and the children realize that things are meant to work out the way they are supposed to, and sometimes it’s for the better, even though at the time, it may not seem that way. Many problems will be solved and it all started with just one wish.




13 comments:

  1. This sounds like a great book to read with older kids. I hope that I can check out your book(s) and find at local libraries. Could it also be in Spanish too?!? Glad to connect with you on Twitter. Hope to see more posts.
    have a Great awesOme Day!!!
    Barbara
    http://spanishforkids-jbplbarbara.blogspot.com

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  2. Thanks for stopping by Barbara. I don't believe that my books are available in Spanish but it is worth looking into. The books should be available in libraries, and if it isn't, all you have to do is ask for the library to order it and they should be able to get it for you. Thank you very much!
    Renee

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  3. Thanks, Renee for a nice review. Hope your book signing went well.

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  4. The book signing is tomorrow. I think it will go well. There's been a lot of publicity for it so I'm pretty excited to see what will happen.
    Thanks
    Renee

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  5. New follower from blog hop, pls help our community to teach poor kids and women by following us at
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    Also follow us on FB and twitter and leave msg so we can return the favor
    Thanks

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  6. following you back from the stalker hop!

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  7. Neat review!!! The book sounds cool!
    Following you back, this morning, from the Super Stalker Sunday blog hop!!
    New e-mail subscriber and GFC follower!
    Barb
    FL MOM'S BLOG
    http://flmoms-winterbabe98.blogspot.com/

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  8. Hi there--following you back!!

    Michele aka MikiHope
    www.mikishope.com

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  9. HI! Nice blog! I am following you on Twitter. Unfortunately GFC is not showing up so I will have to follow you at another time.

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  10. Following you from Super Stalker Sunday Blog Hop

    Please follow me back if you get the chance Taz's Journey

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  11. Hi - great site! New follower from bloghop & fellow children's author. Great to 'meet'.

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  12. Stopping by from Helicopter's Mom Alexa hop. Have a good day!

    http://www.meldreamsoften.com/2011/06/past-few-days.html

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