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The Wish List
Eoin Colfer Scholastic Inc., 2004 |
Meg Finn is a 14-year-old whose life has gone down hill ever since her mother's death. She ended up partnering with the worst kid on the block, Belch and his dog Raptor. Belch and his mutt are known throughout the entire city, not for his good deeds, but for shoplifting, breaking and entering, and almost everything else on that part of the list. She had partnered with him to get away from her stepfather's cruelties and his second love-the television. Belch decided that they were going to break into Old Lowrie's house because he believed the old deaf coot had a whole stash of money hidden somewhere. With that money, Belch would buy a motorcycle and Meg would leave the town that used to be utopia until her mom's death. After entering through the window and as Belch is about to look through the man's drawers, they here a creaking on the steps. It appears that Lowrie isn't as deaf as Belch had originally believed because standing on the steps with a shotgun. Raptor recognizes the enemy and sprints over biting the man's leg. Meg wants the dog to release its grip, but Belch won't have it. Meg takes the gun from Lowrie and points it at Belch. He waits for a weak point and then takes the gun explains that no one ever points a gun at Belch Brennan. She knew he was going to shoot her, so she ran-straight into a dead end with gas pipes along the wall. It was there that Belch and his dog had her cornered. He aimed the trigger towards the pipes causing an explosion killing them both.
Belch and Raptor become combined into some kind of human canine and are sent to Hell. Meg was on her way there but ended up hitting a great blue wall instead. It turned out that she was exactly 50/50, 50% bad, 50% good. She couldn't go to Hell, but she still couldn't go to Heaven, so she got sent back to right her wrongs in spirit form. She's back in Lowrie's house, only two years later. She has to help Lowrie finish his wish list which he had narrowed down to four (what she believed them to be) crazy ideas. Will she be able to help this man who has only a few months left do what he's always wanted to do and go to Heaven, or will she screw up and ruin ever last chance she had to make it there and end up in Hell?
I think this is one of my new favorite books! I learned from this book about getting second chances. Most of the time you won't ever be able to right your wrongs again, but Meg got a chance to live a little longer to try and fix it. You won't always be able to fix something completely, but you can help to try and make it better. Meg had to do that for Lowrie, help him to do the things he always wanted to before time ran out for him. I'd highly recommend this book for anyone over the age of 12. Anyone younger may not quite understand what's going on and why, but it's definitely an outstanding book, just as good as the Artemis Fowl books, but with a different twist.
~ Kayla Aldan, 9th grade, Boardman High School