Make My Wish Come True
by Rachael Lippincolt & Alyson Derrick
Simon & Schuster
Rachael Lippincolt and Alyson Derrick met at the University of Pittsburgh, in a creative writing class. Now married to each other, they have collaborated on a number of award-winning books.
Their latest, out in time for Christmas which is now less than 12 weeks away, is again set in a small town in Pennsylvania. Caroline Beckett lives with her family and is editor of her high school newspaper in Barnwich.
Caroline is proud of her article about the local bakery’s heavily guarded five-generations-old Christmas cookie recipe and is including it in her portfolio application to do journalism at Columbia University.
Christmas is actually a big deal for the small town and there are lots of festivities in the lead up to the big day. Twelve days before Christmas, Caroline’s former best friend returns to the town after being absent for four years.
Arden James had left with her parents, without even saying goodbye, for the promise of a better by making it big in Hollywood. And she had made it big with a starring role in a Netflix series and becoming a notorious party girl all over social media.
Caroline has tried to move on with her life but in some ways, Arden still seems to inhabit her life. Of course, it doesn’t help that Caroline has a part-time job at Arden’s grandmother’s eatery.
To add insult to injury, Arden has arrived in town as part of a publicity stunt to prove to the director of a film she wants to be in that she really is a small-town girl. Her publicist has the idea that Arden can revitalize the ghost of her childhood crush and date Caroline for the twelve days leading up to Christmas.
Even though Arden stirs up nostalgic memories, Caroline is now older and wiser, and she sees that Arden has recreated herself into someone that everyone else wants her to be.
The Young Adult story is rather predictable but it is good to see LGBTIQ+ characters as protagonists wanting to discover what a ‘better life’ really looks like.
Lezly Herbert
