Rallison, Janette. Just One Wish (3 stars out of 4).
Although it is not easy, sometimes while reading I feel it is necessary to turn off my background and knowledge about YA literature and what makes it good and bad. Not every writer is interested in creating a lasting masterpiece that will inspire readers for generations; in our post-modern, media-spoiled, hyper-connected-yet-fragmented world, sometimes just telling a fun story in a few hours is just what our students’ doctors are ordering. Although some of my students want to read Octavian Nothing, frankly, more want to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Into this maelstrom of quality versus accessibility enters Janette Rallison and her new novel, Just One Wish. Ms. Rallison’s plot-driven tearjerker does not necessarily appeal to my high literary sensibilities, but it is the type of book—a little exciting, a little romantic, and a little funny—that many of my students ask for regularly.
Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman’s life revolves around her six-year-old brother Jeremy, but she doesn’t mind; in fact, she wants desperately to make him comfortable and happy on the eve of brain surgery that will determine whether he lives or dies. As the novel begins, Annika wins a conflict with an obnoxious eBay addict in a toy store over an action figure of the hot TV show Teen Robin Hood; after “borrowing” the toy from his cart, she dashes for the door: “My older sister, Leah . . . says I’ve wasted most of my adolescence playing sports, but this is obviously not true. Running through the store toward the checkout line was just like running for a touchdown, except the other shoppers didn’t try to tackle me” (8). When Annika hints that the action figure will show up for the holidays (or even sooner), Jeremy shares his real wish: “‘I wish the real Teen Robin Hood—the one on TV—would come and teach me how to shoot arrows’” (22). Annika suggests to her best friend Madison that they take a four-hour road trip from their home in Henderson, Nevada, to Burbank, California to speak to Steve Raleigh, the nineteen-year-old hunk who plays Teen Robin Hood. When Madison questions Annika’s sanity, Annika first offers explanation, then only determination: “I clutched the phone harder and tried to make Madison understand. ‘This is something I’ve got to do. If you can’t cover for me, let me know and I’ll call someone else’” (32). Improbable as it seems, with little money and no actual plan, but a lot of grit and perseverance, Annika and Madison must find a way to convince Steve Raleigh to come back to Henderson before the operation and fulfill Jeremy’s wish.
Like Maybe in Lisa Yee’s Absolutely Maybe, Annika’s luck level is a little high for my taste, but television is replete with rags-to-riches tales of go-getters who will not quit until their goals are attained. Like a good television show, action replaces characterization when the latter gets too thin. Sometimes full characterization is not necessary to a good story. I occasionally watch one of the Law and Order series with an auburn-haired woman and a curly-haired man. They both have quirks that make them unique, but neither is particularly well-developed; I know little or nothing about their lives outside of their detective work; I do not know their friends; I do not even know what foods they like or whether or not they prefer tea to coffee. However, millions of Americans like me are content to watch stories through their eyes and ears because we inherently trust that they will ultimately entertain us; intimacy is not required. In this context, Janette Rallison’s Just One Wish is a good after-school special. I do not watch them now, but I sure did when I was thirteen, and my students want them, especially but not exclusively reluctant readers. Maybe they will read Cynthia Kadohata next.