Review originally published 12 August 2018 at Falling Letters.

“Annie Blythe is dying, but she can give Peter Stone the strength to live.” Yes, that first line of the jacket copy made me do a hard eye roll.  Thankfully, the story doesn't fully play into that bad trope. Annie doesn't help Peter because she has cancer and thus has some enlightened take on life. She helps him by being an artistic friend and showing him the beauty in nature. Annie's cancer opens up the discussion of parents and children not communicating, of parents smothering their child – like how Peter's parents pressure him. (Another question one might ask while reading this book is, what is the point to be made about children and decisions about medical procedures? Communication between parent and child is critical.)

I loved the description of their secret place. It does sound like a beautiful place to find some calm. I can piece together places I’ve been and come up with a perfect view like this.  I wouldn't call this book magical realism - I felt that any 'magic' the children experience is of the ordinary sort to be found in nature.

Ahead of us, stretching for hundreds of yards, was a wild-flower field. It was red and yellow and orange, all black-eyed Susans, firewheels, and Indian paintbrushes. I took a deep breath and smelled air thick with pollen and nectar. (40)

The actions of two nasty brothers, Doug and Jake (violent, mean little boys – they are hints they grew up in a violent household, but nothing excuses their behaviour), culminate in something pretty awful. I was a little shocked.

Spoiler

Peter describes, “Watched it hit, saw the fear and pain on her face the split second before she fell to her knees, to her face, below the water, the red of her hair growing in to a wider and longer stream of red as she bled. It looked like she was bleeding to death.” (213) This happens about 20 pages from the end. I don’t like endings that jump ahead and then have uncertainty about what happened before. The narrative follows the scene in which Annie is knocked out in the river, but then it jumps ahead and Peter doesn't know what happened to her. On a positive note, my heart felt lighter when Peter shares the special place with his parents and they acknowledge the pressures they've put on him (233-34).

The Bottom Line: Wish Girl deals with complex issues of parent-child relationships and medical treatments, but be prepared for a bleak and violent climax.