As this chapter book opens, sixth-graders Ryan, Ernest, and Lizzy aren't exactly friends, but soon they're drawn together by a shared secret: the town's decrepit wishing well is actually working. After Ernest fulfills his dying grandfather's request that he give away certain objects in the attic, they become instrumental in granting wishes and making things better for people in the community, where the dwindling economic base has eroded hope. The story features a large cast of tweens and adults, and the third-person narrative shifts its focus from one to another, short chapter by short chapter, always returning to the central trio of kids. But even secondary characters are sustained by their increasing connections with others, and one person's story dovetails unexpectedly with another. A screenwriter, Calabrese portrays the tweens both independent of and within their families, whether supportive or dysfunctional. The momentum steadily builds as readers get to know the characters and care about their individual, yet increasingly interwoven, concerns. A promising first novel that delivers its own measure of hope.

With their small Ohio manufacturing town and their families going through hard times, sixth-graders Ryan, Ernest, and Lizzie wish for things to be different. When it appears that an old well has begun granting wishes, things change in unexpected ways. This debut novel offers realistic fiction fans likable characters, plenty of action, a little bit of mystery, and a satisfying ending.

A magic well provides hope to people living in a depressed Midwestern town in this debut. On his deathbed, Ernest Wilmette's grandfather makes 11-year-old Ernest promise to clean out his attic. The Wilmettes are the richest family in the struggling town of Cliffs Donnelly, Ohio, owners of the local tool-and-die factory. In the attic, he's attracted to an odd collection of nearly perfect toys. What is he supposed to do? The next day, after standing up to a bully in middle school, he ends up—it's a long story—stumbling across Thompkins Well, which local folklore says can grant wishes. But Ernest is in a cave at the bottom of the well, and he overhears his Indian-American classmate, newcomer Winston, make a wish—and with the help of one of the items from the attic, the wish comes true. As do many more wishes, from a wide cast of characters (most as white as the Wilmettes, although a favorite teacher is described as indeterminately biracial). The story is told through a very large number of point-of view characters, some of whom play only minor roles, fitting together as neatly as a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. The sentence-level writing is smooth, and some of the insights are lovely, but the structure is so complicated that it's going to be a hard slog for many. This is the sort of book that adults like for children far more than children like for children. (Fiction. 8-12)

Real life, legend, and magic collide in this engaging middle grade debut by Calabrese (Lena-s Shoes Are Nervous), set in the economically struggling Ohio town of Cliffs Donnelly, whose -Welcome to- sign has been defaced to delete all letters but -if only.- At the center of the intriguing maelstrom are three students at the aptly named Rod Serling Middle School, each coping with a thorny family situation, and Thompkins Well, buried deep in the woods, which according to local lore grants wishes to those in need. As the well-s power manifests itself piecemeal, lonely, overprotected Ernest, 11, takes to heart his dying grandfather-s wish that he clean out his attic, which the boy feels is -magically telling him to give things to people.- And each object, similarly enchantedly, -managed to end up where it belonged,- making unspoken, serendipitous wishes come true. Unforeseen new friends, brooding but generous Ryan and insightful Lizzy, join increasingly confident Ernest in his quest to get to the bottom of the well-s magic and protect its secret. Ancillary characters-a reformed bully, a caring teacher, an unscrupulous reporter-add to the eclectic mix, as Calabrese reaches the solid core of his layered novel: -You can-t fix the world. But you do your best in your own little corner of it. And you hope.- Ages 8-12. Agent: Emily Mitchell, Wernick & Pratt Agency. (Feb.)