The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff: You Wish
Grade 4–6—Benjamin lives in a horrible orphanage where he is punished by having to use a toothbrush to clean out the moldy cooking pots. He can still remember his parents and the life he used to lead before they died. When a social worker stops by with a birthday cake for him, his life is changed with a single wish come true—that he will have unlimited wishes. While this is good news for Benjamin, it's bad for the world as it upsets a natural balance and opens the door for Curseworks to put an evil plan in place that will make curses so strong that they cannot be stopped. The premise of the book is imaginative, but the characters are one-dimensional, leaving the story feeling flat. The descriptions of the Wishworks Factory are vivid and filled with details. Unfortunately, the orphanage itself seems old-fashioned, and readers will be jolted to find that they are actually in the modern world of video games and televisions rather than a world of Victorian orphans in top hats.—Tasha Saecker, Menasha Public Library, WICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.