Wishin' and Hopin'

by Wally Lamb
Nov 27-Dec 14, 2016

Wally Lamb is probably my all-time favorite author. For some reason though, I never read this book. It came out seven years ago and I vaguely remember something at the time that steered me away from reading it. But now with his latest release, I'll Take You There, and its resurrection of the main character Felix from Wishin' and Hopin', I decided to make sure I was up-to-date.

This is nostalgia on steroids. Probably much more relatable for Baby Boomers, but still funny, cute and super sentimental. Felix Funicello is related to – guess who? Annette. He's in fifth grade and the prose is written exactly like an 11-year old would speak. Really fun and light, but honestly it got a little tiring after a while. When Felix befriends a Russian student the ease of reading slowed down a lot. Her accent was pretty tough to get through. And although this is touted as a Christmas book to really get you in the spirit, it didn't come off that way to me. It's not until the last third of the book that Christmas is even really mentioned.

I guess I am just more of a fan of his deeper novels. This is light-hearted and fun and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not what I want from him. But no way can I give him any less than three stars. That would be blasphemy.

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