The Wish List - Hardcover

Colfer, Eoin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786818638 ISBN 13: 9780786818631

Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children, 2003

Synopsis

Eoin Colfer has made millions of fans around the world with his much-loved character, Artemis Fowl, the star of his hugely best-selling series. Now, in a beautifully written novel that is already breaking records in his native Ireland, Colfer introduces readers to a lovable but troubled heroine, who has been given the opportunity for a special kind of redemption.
Meg Finn is in trouble-unearthly trouble. Cast out of her home by her stepfather after her mother'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, her partner in crime, has gotten her involved in the attempted robbery of an elderly man, Lowrie McCall. And 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 her soul.
Irreverent, hilarious, and touchingly hopeful, The Wish List takes readers on a journey of second chances, where joy is found in the most unexpected places.

About this title

Review:

This four-cassette unabridged recording of The Wish List is read by James Wilby. The running time is five hours 45 minutes.

Eoin Colfer's The Wish List is a bitter yet rip-roaringly funny tale of two wayward teenagers on the road to hell--literally. The story opens with Meg Finn and Belch Brennan, two bad kids on the block, breaking into a pensioner's flat. At the very last minute Meg reneges on the deal and tries to break for freedom, leaving the aged Lowrie McCall screaming with the pain inflicted by Belch's bloodthirsty hound. Backed into a corner by Belch and a shotgun, Meg pleads with Belch to call an ambulance and save the old man's life. Instead he pulls the trigger and in a split second of evil and madness the bullet hits a gas tank and knocks Meg's soul out of her skin, catapulting her spirit along a vast tunnel on the way to some particularly shiny, pearly gates.

Meanwhile, Beelzebub is fretting. His boss was expecting two souls, and although Belch (in his new incarnation as a dribbling, growling, red-eyed dog-boy) took the correct turn in the tunnel, he's rather miffed that Meg found her way to the beautifully buffed Pearlies and an interview with Saint Peter and his rather complicated points system. So, the archangel and the demon do a deal, and Meg is given a chance to redeem herself. If she fails on her mission to help Lowrie McCall work his way through his Wish List before he dies, then she too will be heading south to join the boy-band members, the mime artists, Belch and the world's computer boffins in fiery damnation...

The Wish List was first published in Ireland in 2000, bringing with it much critical acclaim. In 2002, following the enormous and well-deserved success of the Artemis Fowl books, Eoin Colfer's publishers decided to let the rest of the world sneak a peak. And about time too. Hopelessly hopeful, immorally moral, rattling with the pain of its anti-heroine as she faces her own demons, and rib-crackingly, laugh-out-loud funny, The Wish List strikes an almost perfect balance between good, old-fashioned scruples and thoroughly modern irreverence in what is ultimately, and most importantly, a darn good read. Not for the faint-hearted, and certainly not for those who can't take a border-line sick joke every now and then, The Wish List is a divinely devilish tale for anyone who enjoys a bucketful of grit and truck loads of wisecracks with their reading material. Ages 10 and over, recommended particularly for older readers. --Susan Harrison

Review:

'another fast-moving plot from the bestselling author Eoin Colfer'

(Books Ireland Books Ireland)

'a picaresque adventure in the Fursey tradition'

(RTE Guide RTE Guide)

'Inventive, entertaining and completely refreshing, The Wish List is a witty and original read which wins you over -- and makes you laugh.'

(T2 Online)

'From the beginning of this novel, when Meg and Belch break into old Mr. McCall's flat, the story grips the reader, in turns gritty, harsh, funny and tender ... the seemingly effortless craftsmanship in this book allows the reader to be swept along with the highs and lows of the story and to emerge at the end after an entertaining and breathless ride.'

(School Librarian The School Librarian)

'A laugh-aloud adventure'

(Mary Arrigan - The Sunday Tribune The Sunday Tribune)

'Absolutely superb'

(Independent on Sunday)

'Funny and feisty'

(The Mail on Sunday)

'The Wish List is an anarchic gem - ingenius, original, fast paced and very funny ... tinged with black humour, that children aged 11-15 will love.'

(The Sunday Herald)

'It's A Wonderful Life with attitude ... A sharp, streetwise, wisecracking fantasy for 10+ in which even St Peter talks like a dude'

(The Sunday Times)

'Echoes of Roddy Doyle, Flann O'Brien and even Samuel Beckett.'

(The Telegraph)

'So devilishly chucklesome that even St Peter might find his halo slipping from laughing so much'

(Sunday Times)

'A highly imaginative blend of black humour, technology and sadness'

(Book Fest 2000)

'Inventive, entertaining and completely refreshing, The Wish List is a witty and original read which wins you over -- and makes you laugh.'

(T2 Online)

'I laughed out loud all through The Wish List...his originality is impressive and his storytelling captivating.'

(Prue Goodwin - Children's Books in Ireland Children's Books in Ireland)

About this edition

• Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0786818638
• ISBN 13: 9780786818631
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256