Wishbone

Book excerpt: Coraline meets Ghost Squad in this terrifying story about what happens when you aren't careful what you wish for. Ollie Di Costa wishes things could be different. He wishes the bullies at school would leave him alone. He wishes his parents would stop fighting. He wishes his sister Mia didn't have to worry about things like paying for college. But most of all, he wishes he wasn't so angry about all of this. When he and Mia find a two-tailed cat they name Wishbone, Ollie takes comfort in telling him everything he wishes would change-then suddenly, it does. Everything Ollie and Mia wish for comes true, and it's like all of their problems are solved. But magic comes at a price. Whatever they wish for is not simply given to them, but taken from others. And to make matters worse, a mysterious shadow man called The Mage is after Wishbone and his power. With each wish, darkness takes over more and more of their world, and worst of all, it threatens to take over Ollie, too. But can he let go of everything he's ever wanted? Justine Pucella Winans, author of the Stonewall Honor book The Otherwoods, brings us another bone-chilling middle grade horror, urging readers to not only be careful what you wish for, but beware of who you may become if you aren't.