The Wish List by Eoin Colfer
Genres: Adventure, Demons, Fantasy, Ghosts, Supernatural
Intended Age Group: Middle Grade
Publisher: Hyperion
Edition: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-7868-1863-8
Rating: 3/5
Amazon ThriftBooks
Description from the Book
Meg Finn is in trouble. Cast out of her home by her stepfather after her mom’s death, Meg is a wanderer, a troublemaker. But after her latest stunt, finding a place to sleep is the least of her worries. Belch, Meg’s partner in crime, has gotten her involved in the attempted robbery of an elderly man, Lowrie McCall. But things go horribly wrong. After an accidental explosion, Meg’s spirit is flung into limbo, and a race begins between the demonic and the divine to win Meg’s soul.
Meg’s really not a bad kid, but she hasn’t exactly been an angel either, so the tally of her good and evil deeds is dead even. Her only chance of tipping the scales to salvation is to go back to Earth and do good—specifically, to help Lowrie McCall. He’s got many regrets in his life to set right—a “wish list”— not much time left to do it. But even if Meg can persuade Lowrie to get mixed up with her, she’s going to have to deal with an even scarier, undead Belch—who’s now definitely on the side of the Devil.
A wild journey to the unexpected here-after, The Wish List is a heartwarming tale of a young girl’s last chance, and the love she will need to—quite literally—redeem herself.
Personal & Info
All I know about this book going into it is that it’s written by the same author as Artemis Fowl, which I have not read, but have heard good things about. This book seems almost out of print and is apparently not very popular, because it seems a little harder to find online. Barnes & Noble doesn’t even have it listed on their website as far as I can tell.
Characters
Meg Finn is the main character. The book has conflicting information about her age. She’s either twelve or fourteen. She has recently become known as a bit of a troublemaker.
Belch is kind of Meg’s associate or co-conspirator. He is sixteen, and a far worse troublemaker than she is, but he lacks intelligence. As the story progresses he becomes her enemy.
Franko Kelly is Meg’s step father. He reminds me a lot of “Smelly Gabe” from The Lightning Thief. If you’re not familiar with that, he’s basically a lazy mean slob.
Lowrie McCall is an old man with a heart condition with whom Meg must make amends with in order to save her soul.
Satan is, well, Satan. He’s the ruler of a hell and all that jazz.
Beelzebub is one of Satan’s senior demons. He takes orders directly from the devil himself and is under threat of losing his job.
Myishi is Satan’s tech support person. He wears designer suits and has a goatee similarly to his boss.
Elph is a computer program created by Myishi. His name stands for EctoLink and Personal Help Program. He appears as a floating hologram.
Saint Peter is the attendant who guards the Pearly Gates of Heaven. He basically makes the final decision on who gets in as far as this story is concerned.
Flit is a creature called a tunnel scraper or a mite. Mites are spirits of creatures who get stuck in limbo and must work a tedious job collecting baskets of soul residue in the spiritual tunnel system to earn a chance at reevaluation for entry to Heaven.
Story & Thoughts
I don’t have any strong feelings about this book. I like it well enough. It has all the traits and vibes for the age group. It’s corny in all the ways you would expect.
There are a few memorable things that might be worth mentioning. The main one, I think, is Belch. He has some body horror things happen to him. It’s not scary in the format of this book, but if seen on screen, I can see how it might be a bit frightening to some kids. The book wants Belch to be considered scary, an abomination, but it also wants him to be comic relief. It wasn’t funny to me, but I can understand how it would be to the intended age group.
The inconsistent age thing for Meg bugs me, and not just because of the age itself. So, first of all, there are several instances in the book where something is explained to her, and she is asked if she understands. In all of these instances, she says she doesn’t understand because she’s only fourteen.
It’s like a cop out response to avoid trying to understand, and at the same time making it sound like she is incapable of understanding due to her age. At least, that’s how I choose to interpret it. But, it seems unrealistic to me. I don’t think kids would bother with that kind of response. I have never heard of kids ever trying to make themselves seem less intelligent or inferior just because they are young. Realistically, it’s always the exact opposite.
As for the number of her age itself, I can’t help wondering if maybe she was including the two years she has been dead. That wouldn’t be right, because she can’t age if she’s dead, but it might feel more natural because it’s the number accurate to her birth. The main reason it bugs me is because she was supposedly fourteen for the whole book, but then the information way later about her time of death only adds up to twelve. I just don’t know if it was her counting from her birth while dead, or if something was overlooked in editing.
Aside from these few things, the book is good. I don’t know if I’ll bother reading it again, but it seems like a good children’s/middle grade book. There are demons in the story, and Saint Peter, but you don’t have to know a lot about the bible or anything to enjoy or comprehend the story.