When Indian American Eshana face-plants in the lunchroom, Cara catches it on video and sends it to the entire high school. Reeling from the mortification and feeling friendless, Eshana goes online where she discovers a website called I-WISH with an animated wizard named Wise One, who urges her to visit the wishing well. Charmed, she makes her first wish: for friends. When it comes true the next day, she can't wait to make other wishes on the site, starting with one that punishes Cara. But when the wishes start to come true in bad ways with terrible, unexpected results, Eshana realizes she must find a way to destroy the site and get her life back. While lower stakes than most lit in the high/low realm, there's still a quick pace and steady pulse to this brief story, and the ending is ultimately satisfying. The book presents basic lessons in cybersafety as well as overt positive moral messaging about being kind and grateful.

A mysterious website grants wishes…but not without cost.After a bad day at school, 10th grader Eshana Mehra comes across a website called I-WISH, described as a safe platform for meeting people. She chats with another user, who offers a veiled warning that the site isn't quite what it seems, but when Wise One, the site's guide, tells her to ask for something, Eshana wishes to have plenty of friends. The next day, other students go out of their ways to talk to her, and Eshana is emboldened to ask I-WISH to stop a girl named Cara who's been bullying her. The following day, Eshana learns that Cara was badly injured in a car accident. At the same time, Eshana finds that she is unable to keep herself from saying exactly what she's thinking, even if it's hurtful. She decides to make one last wish and then never visit the site again-but the price exacted by Wise One may be too great to bear. Eshana asks her friends Pia and Tito to help her shut the site down for good. This novel will engage reluctant readers who enjoy real-world–based fantasies. Eshana makes questionable decisions about online safety and revenge but learns from her mistakes. Eshana is of Indian descent; Tito uses they/them pronouns.A satisfying tale about defeating an online predator and realizing the value of true friendship. (Fiction. 12-18)

Gr 8 Up— A hi-lo retelling of "The Monkey's Paw" for the modern teen. Eshana, a bullied 10th grader, stumbles upon a strange fairy-tale—themed website called I-WISH. The creator of the website claims to be able to grant wishes. Eshana's wishes begin to come true, but they come at a cost. Her personality starts changing, becoming first rude and then cruel. When her final wish puts her family in danger, Eshana learns who her real friends were all along. Narsimhan succeeds at creating a story for teens who are reading at a lower level without infantilizing the content. Although the shortened form necessitates a more simplified story, the characters and concerns ring true for modern teens, some light swearing included. The author reflects her own South Asian heritage in Eshana's story, which resists the mistaken belief that stories for struggling readers need to remain as culturally and linguistically narrow as possible. The chat room—style website that Eshana discovers reads as a little dated, since most modern teens stick to app-based social media sites, but this throwback isn't too jarring. VERDICT An excellent choice where hi-lo fiction is needed.— Jeri Murphy