Wishing Day audiobook

After her 13th birthday, a young girl will walk up a hill to a weeping willow tree and make three wishes. The first will be an impossible wish. The second will be one she can make come true for herself. The third will be one from the depths of her heart. Wishing Day was the current mother/daughter read in our house. After finishing The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (about a girl looking to solve the mystery of her missing father), my daughter picked this book up. We didn’t realize that it was going to include another girl looking to solve the mystery about her missing mother. It’s interesting that YA lit likes to use that concept. Anyway, my daughter had a hard time settling into the groove of this one. Partly because the last one was a really good read and partly because the story was a bit jumbled with a bunch of secrets and mysteries. Once she settled in, we couldn’t read it fast enough. Natasha is the main character. She is very introverted. She lives in her head way too much. She’s the oldest of three girls - all very close in age if not close in personality. Natasha loves her sisters but feels very removed from who they are. She isn’t outgoing, popular, upbeat or joyful. She’s a writer of stories without endings. She’s the glue in a family shattered with grief. But what happens when she gets too tired trying to hold everyone together - to be the good girl all the time? Natasha is a beautifully layered character. My daughter and I felt very connected to her and her struggles to be seen and loved for who she is. The cast of secondary characters is well built. Darya is the pretty and outgoing middle sister with a wicked sarcastic streak. Ava is the upbeat and positive youngest sister who still believes in magic. Molly is the goofy best friend. Benton is the crush. Stanley is the adorkable boy in class. Aunt Vera is the grumpy, strict older sister of Natasha’s mother. Aunt Elena is the fun-loving, kind younger sister of her mother. Her father is lost in his grief over his missing and presumed dead wife. The Bird Lady is ... odd and mysterious and we think she’s magical somehow. I’m not sure if Myracle wanted her story to be magical realism or fantasy. If it was magical realism, then it wasn’t done right. If it was fantasy, then it really wasn’t enough. However, the magical/fantasy elements were interesting and linked to the mystery, so they really did suck you into the story. Overall, the story was heartbreaking and heartwarming if it’s possible to be both at the same time. After finishing the cliffhanger ending (which didn’t make us too upset because we knew it was a series), my daughter immediately grabbed the next one to read. Wishing Day proves the old adage is true: be careful what you wish for because it just might come true.

Natascha (13) lebt mit ihren Schwestern Darya (12) und Ava (11), ihrem Vater und ihren beiden Tanten Vera und Elena zusammen. Nataschas Mutter Klara hat die Familie vor vielen Jahren verlassen. Nun hat Natascha kurz nach ihrem 13. Geburtstag ihren sogenannten „Wunschtag“. Es ist Brauch, dass alle 13-jährigen Mädchen drei Wünsche äußern dürfen – die sich dann auch erfüllen werden!? Natascha ist sich nicht sicher, ob sie daran glauben soll, und trotzdem möchte sie sich ihre Wünsche gut aussuchen und überlegen. Soll sie sich zum Beispiel wirklich wünschen, dass ihre Mutter zurückkehrt? Und wie sieht es mit ihrem ersten Kuss aus? Mein Leseeindruck: Das Buch richtet sich an junge Leserinnen ab 12 Jahren. Es ist daher kindgerecht leicht und einfach geschrieben, hat aber trotzdem eine gewisse Tiefe – alleine schon aufgrund des Themas der fehlenden Mutter. Die Autorin hat dieses sensible Thema gut in die übrige Handlung eingearbeitet bzw. ihre Geschichte drumherum aufgebaut. Natürlich ist das Fehlen der Mutter immer präsent, aber es geht eben auch um Themen, die wohl alle jungen Mädchen irgendwann beschäftigen – Verliebtsein, der erste Kuss, Freundschaft. Mir hat es sehr gut gefallen, wie die Autorin diese Thematiken miteinander verknüpft und den Zusammenhalt der Schwestern – trotz ganz natürlicher Meinungsverschiedenheiten – immer tiefer werden lässt. Dabei ist das Buch in einem sehr einfachen und leichten Schreibstil geschrieben, so dass auch junge Leser die Geschichte flüssig lesen können, denke ich. Auch mir hat das Lesen sehr viel Freude gemacht, obwohl ich nicht mehr zur angesprochenen Altersgruppe gehöre. Daher kann ich das Buch auf jeden Fall weiterempfehlen und freue mich nun auf den zweiten Band!

Oh, the magic, the magic, the magic. It practically glitters on the page. And combined with such heavy doses of reality. It makes me wish for magic and secret notes and sisters and birds' eggs. So very taken by this book disguised as a middle grade story.

This is a magical book! I love it so much. It was full of mystery. Now I can't wait to read book two!

This book was very good. My mom found it on the Bard magazine when I was 10. Bard is digital books for blind people. I started reading it and really enjoyed it. Even though the book was supposed to be for kids my age, I still felt like the ending was a little too old for me. It was almost right, but not quite. I finished the book because I was curious what happened. It wasn’t that bad. It was just a little intense.No, however, I really like it. It’s about A girl whose mother went missing. On the third day of the third month after A girls 13th birthday, they get something called a wishing day. They have to make one impossible wish, one wish that they can make come true themselves, and the wish of their secret heart. The girl, Natasha, wishes that her mom is alive.I want to read this book for a while, but I kept getting distracted by other books. Last year, at camp, I even had a dream about it. Then, a few of my friends were talking about the Warriors series, which goes on for a really, really long time. Then, after that, I started reading other books. Bard started acting up, and I had to start using Hoopla more. I figured out a way to read books that have been downloaded previously. It’s complicated. Anyway, I decided to read it.There will be spoilers from here on out. I have to say my favorite part was when Natasha read her mom’s letter. It was so sweet. I have to say I wonder if Emily somehow turned into the bird lady. At the end, Natasha described her hand as small as a child, but with wrinkles. But that also might have been because she’s small.:-) I liked the memories that were shown in the book. I also liked when it talked about other peoples wishes. Overall, I think it was a really good book.

The book Wishing Day by Lauren Myracle is about a girl named Natasha who's been waiting for her 13th birthday. Whenever a girl in the town of Willow Hill turns 13, they get to go to a willow tree at the top oh a hill and make 3 wishes. Her first wish is impossible. Her second wish she can make it come true herself. And the third with is her deepest wish from her heart. After her wishes, Natasha's sisters want to know what her wishes were. She won't budge though. Throughout the book, Natasha just waits and sees if her wishes really come true.

Appropriate for: age 11+3.75 starsThis book intrigued me right away, but it was so so. It came across kind of like Bridge to Terabithia, is there magic or isn't there? Personally, these kinds of books/movies annoy me. There was also middle school humor, which is blech to an adult and I've read plenty of great middle grade books without it.

I loved this book, and could not put it down. But the ending was the best/worst part.

A magical middle grade story that is perfect for readers looking for just a little bit of magic, a little bit of sadness, a little bit of romance, and a little bit of suspense. I really enjoyed this story and know it will be a hit in my libraries with students in grades 4 - 7. Those students who love realistic fiction, but aren't always wanting the gritty reality being written about so much now. Those students who like magic, but don't want JUST magic. Oh, and the COVER! This is one of my all-time favorite middle grade covers - it's just gorgeous. I really appreciated the depression storyline and the sweet and innocent romance/crush angle. The family dynamics were touching and Natasha was a well-developed character. The ending was abrupt, but that is often the case in a story that is designed as the first in a series. I can't wait to read Darya's story in the next book in this trilogy!The publisher donated this book to my library for review - all opinions are my own.

Natasha is the grounded one in her family and as the oldest, she is the most realistic about her status in life. Her mother disappeared when she was a young girl and now on her thirteenth birthday, she is given three wishes. She feels that she this is a silly tradition in her town and never expects anything when her two aunts take her to the wishing willow, she decides to take a chance. After she wishes, she finds she is followed by the mysterious, "Bird Lady" who is made of myth. Does this lady know what happened to her mother?The story delves into all those awkward teen moments with perfection. Myracle always seems to take those little things and make them more comfortable for pre-teens. I really enjoyed watching Natasha come into her own and grow up a bit. This is a perfect read for pre-teen and adults should enjoy it as well. Adults: you can probably guess the outcome of this story half way though, but it is still enjoyable.

"Wishing Day" was a book that I wouldn't usually read. It's fantasy, and when I saw it was marked that, I was just reading it to get out of my comfort zone. Turns out, it wasn't about fairies and monsters, it was more of a realistic fantasy, the story could've happened, but some details couldn't have. I really enjoyed the book from start to finish and Lauren Myracle has a great way of writing. It was still out of my comfort zone, and I thought I would have to abandon it a few times, but I stuck to it and it turned out that I really liked it. The main character was quirky and felt out of place in school and at her home. She was basically holding her family together, she cooked, cleaned, and took care of her siblings. Her aunts helped, but after Natasha's, the main character's, mom left, the family just wasn't the same. Myracle takes you on an adventure through hope, heartbreak, grief, and happiness as she tells the story of "Wishing Day."

Another of Lauren Myracle's books that is at the top of my reccommends list. The joy of wishing and believing in yourself and your dreams. Having sisters and family that make you feel special even though everything is not right with the world. But, there's always hope and this book is full of just that. A good solid read!

I absolutely love this book and cannot wait to read the sequels. It had a very similar quality to Wendy Mass' Willow Falls books (and her books in general), in that it deals with a magical realism element. Such a great start to a new trilogy from one of my favorite authors!

When I was looking for books to read and came across “Wishing Day” by Lauren Miracle, I thought it would be the perfect book to read. The cover was shouting to me “Read me, Read me.” Wishing Day is about a girl who lives in a town that celebrates girl’s turning thirteen by making three wishes on the third day after they turn thirteen. Some people think they are dumb and waste of time. Though others think that they bring joy and happiness, and three granted wishes. Natasha has also made three wishes. Her mom went missing one day and never came back. People just thought she died, but no one knows how. Natasha was young, but not too young because she still remembers little bits and pieces of the life she spent with her mother. Her father and mother were madly in love and nearly inseparable. So, when she went missing, he was heartbroken. He won’t do anything but mope around all day. Then her two aunts take the job of being the mother to three kids. Natasha has known almost her whole life that her family was magical or “special”, but doesn’t know what to believe about it. Because magic isn’t real, right? She soon runs into a crazy bird lady and finds a note that she doesn’t know who’s from. Is her family magical, and where did her mom go?I loved this book all the way through, until the end. The very last couple pages didn’t explain very well what Natasha learned or got from this whole story except bits and pieces like her mom might be alive in another dimension. We don’t even know for sure any of the stuff is true or not. I like it though, though I don’t know for sure. I am glad that there is a second book though. I have mixed emotions about this ending piece. I say it’s an eight out of ten.I recommend this book to thirteen-year-old girls, of course. I also recommend this book to girls who love cliff hangers, a lot of mystery, and sisterly love.