Author Barbara O’Connor published her third novel, Wish, in 2016. Set in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, which the author calls home, this award-winning, New York Times bestselling middle grade novel follows 11-year-old protagonist Charlie Reese as she learns to adapt to a new home and redefine herself and her conception of family. The novel explores complex issues such as the incarceration of a parent, the complexities of the foster care system, bullying, and physical disabilities while simultaneously highlighting the joy of finding new friends and family in unexpected places. O’Connor is the author of over twenty books, including How to Steal a Dog, which has been optioned for a film adaptation. O’Connor is known for writing what she calls “southern contemporary fiction” for middle grade readers and enjoys traveling the country to visit schools, share her writing process, and meet her readers.

This guide references the 2016 Farrar Strauss Giroux Books for Young Readers eBook edition.

Plot Summary

Charlemagne “Charlie” Reese’s mother struggles with depression and her father is in a correctional facility, so she must move from Raleigh, North Carolina, to the small town of Colby, where her closest relatives, Bertha and Gus, become her guardians. On her first day at her new school, the teacher asks Charlie to fill out a “Get to Know You” sheet, but Charlie struggles to describe herself and resorts to the honest answer that she isn’t good at school, doesn’t have any hobbies, and often gets into fights. (Charlie has a quick temper, which she assumes she got from her father, whose nickname is Scrappy.)

Bertha and Gus live in a modest home on stilts perched on the side of a mountain and do their best to make Charlie feel at home, but her tiny room, which doubles as a storage space, does not feel at all like home. Charlie also feels abandoned by her older sister, Jackie Reese, who is close to graduating high school and was therefore allowed to remain in Raleigh with a friend. Compounding Charlie’s sadness and anger is a misguided belief that the people of Colby are backward and uneducated, a stereotype she heard from her friends back in Raleigh. Charlie doesn’t feel like she fits in at school, church, or anywhere else in Colby.

At the end of Charlie’s first day of school, her teacher assigns Howard Odom, a red-haired boy who walks with a limp, to be her “Backpack Buddy.” Howard attempts to sit with Charlie on the school bus ride home, but she brushes him off by asserting that she doesn’t need his help. Charlie notices that Howard’s house is rundown and the yard is cluttered with junk. Every day since fourth grade, Charlie has made a wish and makes it a point to remember all the different scenarios that invite a person to make a wish, such as wishing on a star or a lucky penny, or breaking the wishbone of a chicken. Each night, as she sits on the porch listening to Bertha’s endless stories, she reminds herself to make the same wish, and despite feeling lost and lonely in Colby, she remains hopeful that her wish will come true. Although she struggles to keep up with her schoolwork and is shunned by her classmates, she finds comfort in Bertha’s care and in Gus’s tender, quiet nature.

When Charlie wears Jackie’s white boots to school the next day, she is ridiculed by her classmates and ends up kicking a girl named Audrey Mitchell in the shin for making a snide comment. Charlie is sent to the principal’s office and fears that Bertha will be angry, but instead Bertha tells Charlie that she can start over tomorrow. Bertha is happy that Howard, who is bullied at school, is Charlie’s buddy and explains that his large family is generous and kind. However, Charlie still isn’t interested in being his friend. Charlie’s sister Jackie calls her regularly, but she never asks Charlie about her new life in Colby, and Charlie feels like Jackie doesn’t care about her and is moving on with a new life. Aside from a brief letter from Scrappy and one postcard from a classmate, no one else from Raleigh reaches out to Charlie.

One day, Charlie sees a neighbor chasing a scrawny, black puppy from her yard with a water hose. She realizes the dog is a stray and decides having a dog will cure her loneliness. Charlie shifts her focus from hating living in Colby to finding a way to catch the dog, whom she names Wishbone. When she tells Howard about her plan to catch the animal, he offers to help, and Charlie becomes more willing to be Howard’s friend.

With help from Howard’s father, Charlie and Howard make a trap baited with table scraps, but days pass without any sign of Wishbone. Charlie becomes despondent and wants to quit, but Howard encourages her not to give up. Thinking that Howard is calling her a quitter, she angrily calls him a “hillbilly” and stomps away. When she gets home, she finds Wishbone in the trap and leads him inside. The two soon become inseparable as Wishbone follows Charlie everywhere and enjoys the scraps from Bertha’s cooking. Charlie makes up with Howard and introduces Howard to Wishbone.

Summer arrives, and Charlie is happy for a break from school. She and Howard spend their days playing with Wishbone at the creek. One day, when they both say the same thing at the same time, Charlie tells Howard to make a wish. When she thoughtlessly guesses that he must want to wish away his limp, Howard sadly walks away, and Charlie is so upset that she loses control of Wishbone, who runs away. Gus searches for days but can’t find Wishbone. Meanwhile, Charlie feels awful for hurting Howard’s feelings. Thankfully, Wishbone returns, and Charlie finds the courage to apologize to Howard. He tells her that part of his wish came true because he wished that she would want to be his friend.

Charlie attends Vacation Bible School (VBS) with Howard despite still feeling uncomfortable at church. One day at lunch, she spots a loving note in Audrey’s lunchbox from her mother. Charlie longs to have a mother to write her such notes, and she goes home and makes a fake note for her lunchbox. When Audrey sees the note the next day, she calls Charlie a liar. Charlie’s temper flares, but she stops herself with Howard’s help. Later, Charlie sees T.J. mocking Howard’s limp and shoves him in retaliation. When Bertha finds out, she praises Charlie for standing up for her friend. Jackie finally visits and instantly connects with Bertha, Gus, and all of Colby’s community. Charlie is jealous but also longs to emulate her big sister. As Jackie prepares to return to Raleigh, Charlie asks if she can go too, but Jackie explains that she can’t support Charlie and encourages her to embrace her new life in Colby.

The social services worker visits and explains that they have decided Charlie’s mother has improved enough for Charlie to return home. Charlie feels torn between reuniting with her mother and staying with her new friends and family in Colby. Bertha promises to fix the situation, and Charlie spends several days in anguish as she awaits the decision. When Bertha learns that Charlie’s mother has decided to leave for Chattanooga, Tennessee, she alerts the social worker, who decides that Charlie can stay in Colby. Charlie celebrates with Howard, who says he knew all along that she was going to stay because that was the other part of his wish. Bertha declares that they are a family and Charlie retires her daily wishing practice since her wish to have a real family has come true.