Wishes and Wellingtons

By Julie Berry

Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Young Readers, 2020. Fiction.

Maeve Merrit has just stumbled onto an incredibly lucky find. After getting in yet another fight at her prim and proper boarding school, she is assigned garbage duty and makes a startling discovery: a djinni residing in a discarded sardine tin. Mermeros, the remarkably poor-tempered djinni with a hilarious contempt for his new master, can great Maeve up to three wishes, but warns her about the consequences of greed. As more and more people learn of Maeve's djinni and seek to possess the power for themselves, Maeve and her friends are led on an adventure through Victorian London.

Readers who enjoyed Jonathan Auxier's Sweep, or other historical fantasy novels will find a lot to enjoy in this larger-than-life adventure through the streets of London. Maeve is a winning protagonist whose quick temper and impassioned sense of fairness make for a hilarious foil to the well brought-up girls at her boarding school. Her desire to travel the world and start a girl's cricket league will resonate with readers who like stories of girls who challenge gender roles.

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