Instead of Three Wishes

Awards and Reviews, Instead Of Three Wishes
Greenwillow Books, 1995
132 pages, ISBN 0-688-13922-1 $15.00

Booklist Editors' Choice List (Best books of 1995)
1996-97 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Master List.

The New York Times Book Review (5 November 1995), "Bookshelf", p. 31:

Here's an ebullient collection of seven stories, some magical and some not. The title story is about what happened when Selene met the elf prince, who had come into town to open a bank account. Delightful.

Kirkus Reviews (pointer review)

An utterly delightful collection of short stories about enchantment in everyday life. They include "The Nightmare," in which a hooligan is forced to see himself through other people's eyes; "Aunt Charlotte and the NGA Portraits," about the search for treasure in a painting come to life; and the title story, about a girl who isn't interested in the wishes she is granted by an elf prince in a business suit.

Each story is a perfectly crafted, captivating little gem; most demonstrate a dry sense of humor, and all have a dose of irony running through the author's fluid prose. Nothing is overdone and not a word is out of place in this auspicious debut.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books:

Seven short stories play upon varying themes of magic and its intrusion into everyday contemporary life: a bullying boy gets what he asks for when he tells an old lady to give him whatever she's got; a capable girl drives an elf king to distraction by refusing his gifts; an African-American boy becomes a hero in prehistoric Sweden. The most intriguing and ambitious story, "Aunt Charlotte and the NGA Portraits," has enough material for a couple of novels, but succeeds as a kind of fantastic spin on Konigsburg's From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Turner employs an assortment of folk- and fairytale elements with freshness and ease, avoiding the cuteness that has plagued the post-Stinky Cheese era; her deployment of fantastic elements into realistic settings has a bracing matter-of-factness. Zippy dialogue makes the collection a natural readaloud; fans of Joan Aiken and Anne Lindbergh will enjoy the twists and turns. (Roger Sutton)

The Horn Book

These seven deftly told tales share a common theme of the meeting of magic and everyday life. The stories are fresh and unusual: "Leroy Roachbane" tells the story of a young boy who uses his modern-day, urban-bred proficiency at killing cockroaches to become a hero when he finds himself in prehistoric Sweden; in "The Nightmare," a bully is transformed when he realizes the power of dreams. Sightings of little green men in New Hampshire lead to a tabloid stampede in "A Plague of Leprechaun"; and two lonely people - one from the past and one from the future - find each other in a ghostly "Factory." In the title story, a skeptical young woman turns down an elf prince's offer of three wishes, and ends up fulfilling her heart's desire instead.

The first-time author combines a shrewd wit with an eye for the endearingly absurd. A fine debut. (Sarah Guille)

School Library Journal

Seven short stories in which fantasy mingles with the everyday lives of ordinary people. In the first, a leprechaun sighting brings an excess of tourists to a small New England village. In the next, a boy goes back in time and makes himself a hero by claiming to be a killer of roaches. In "Aunt Charlotte and the NGA Portraits," a girl is sent into a painting to search for a missing object that turns out to be a selkie skin. In the title story, an elf owes three wishes to a girl who keeps rejecting his efforts. In "The Baker King," a kingdom keeps waiting for its prince to return and finds that he is there all the time - but in the most unlikely place. Each selection has an unexpected twist at the end that will surprise readers but that logically fits the tale. Turner does a fine job of creating time and place and imbues the selections with a mild humor that will elicit gentle chuckles and smiles. Some of the stories are stronger than others, and not all of them will appeal to the same audience, but all are readable and the best are very good. Several would also make excellent choices for reading aloud.

American Library Association Booklist (starred review)

Gr. 4-6. In this collection of seven short stories, magic crops up in unexpected places. A leprechaun roams the hills of New Hampshire; calling himself Leroy Roachbane, a black boy travels back in time to his spiritual home in prehistoric Sweden, where he rids the village lodge of roaches; a young factory worker finds his vision of heaven while working the high crane and chooses to become a ghost in the rafters; an elf prince has an unexpectedly hard time granting wishes to a young woman in Ontario. Each story varies in tone and setting from the one before it, and each illuminates our world with some light from past history or tradition. The real magic here is Turner's ability to convince readers that the realms of fairy tales can intersect contemporary life. The result is no humorless blend of traditional elements with modern culture, but an often witty recognition of eternal truth spiced with temporal incongruities. A refreshing first book, this introduces Turner as an entertaining, original storyteller with something to say.

Booklist Editor's Choice '95

Magic crops up in unexpected places in this entertaining collection of seven stories that vary in tone and setting. They provide an often witty recognition of eternal truths spiced with temporal incongruities as readers are convinced that the realms of fairy tales can intersect with contemporary life.

Publishers' Weekly

Princes in disguise, royal elves and book-loving ghosts all play a part in the seven stories of this intermittently promising collection. Throughout, debut author Turner's style is expansive, allowing for mood-setting details and for occasionally sharp wit, but most of her plots follow familiar, predictable patterns. As a rural town fills up with leprechaun-hunters in "A Plague of Leprechaun," for example, it's easily foreseen that the sole disinterested party, an art school graduate intent on pursuing his craft, will end up with the little fellow's bad of gold. On the other hand, the entry "Aunt Charlotte and the NGA Portraits" is a stand-out. This carefully framed narrative unfolds slowly and suspensefully to reveal a series of puzzles, their settings ranging from an underpopulated island off North Carolina to Canaletto's Venice, their marvelous resolution followed by a denouement of near-equal magic. The inventiveness and control shown here augur well for Turner's future endeavors.

KLIATT Reviews

In this delightful collection of fractured fairy tales, the author takes traditional stories and turns them on their heads. A New Hampshire town is turned upside-down by a leprechaun hunt, but the man who finds him is more interested in art than in gold. A lonely young man in a futuristic factory finds love and belonging in the ghost of a girl who once lived in the house that was torn down. There is a magical tale of a trip through an Italian painting, and the stirring saga of the great prehistoric Swedish hero, Leroy Roachbane of ChicagoIllinoy. The title story concerns an elf-king and a very modern girl who doesn't want three wishes or the traditional castle, coach or handsome prince that are the usual rewards for saving royalty. The elf-king decides he will reward the girl if it kills him, and in the process of granting her wish he manages to grant his own mother's as well. The stories were written for the author's young son, and they should charm and delight any child old enough to enjoy the fairy-tale variations, as well as any adult granted the privilege of reading them aloud. Highly recommended for all collections. KLIATT Codes: J*--Exceptional book, recommended for junior high school students. Reviewed by Deirdre B. Root.

Children's Literature Review

This is a collection of seven magical stories by the Newbery Honor author. Each story is fresh and thought provoking with unexpected results: a teenage girl is surprised when she refuses three wishes offered by the elf prince; a young hoodlum harasses an old lady and creates his own nightmare; a young girl goes into an oil painting to help an old woman3Ú4and much more. Young readers will be delighted at the way everyday life and fairy tales intersect in these stories. Reviewed by Cheryl Peterson.

Book Report, Worthington, Ohio, December 1995

Each story in this collection of seven short stories is a delightful example of magic in the lives of everyday people. The author's writing style helps the reader easily suspend disbelief. Settings are varied. In a "Plague of Leprechaun" we learn the havoc that is caused by reports of a leprechaun sighting in a small town in New Hampshire. In "Leroy Roachbane," a black youth is transported from the roach-infested slums of Chicago to the snowy terrain of Sweden, where his skill at stamping out roaches makes him a hero. Ghosts and young love play a part in the magic of "The Factory." "Aunt Charlotte and the NGA Portraits" is a magical story that transports a young girl from North Carolina to Venice of a long time ago and changes a woman into a seal. In the title story, "Instead of Three Wishes," an elf prince tries to pay a debt of kindness with the usual three wishes, but the recipient isn't cooperating. It takes some unusual measures to finally fulfill the debt. A good addition to a young adult fantasy collection, this book will also appeal to adult readers. Recommended. Kathleen Curdy Schwah, Library Media Specialist, Battle Ground (Washington) High School.

Girls' Life, "Haunting Horror Stories," Baltimore, Maryland, November 1995

Magic lurks in the pages of this book. A leprechaun turns a whole town upside-down, a boy travels in time to battle cockroaches, a girl enters a painting to solve a puzzle, and a boy's trouble turns into a nightmare. This collection of stories may not be all that scary, but they provide supernatural thrills just the same.

News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina 3 September 1995, Myla Barnhardt, "Ancient fairy tale (Three Wishes) with a modern twist."

If you've exhausted the classical fairy tales, you'll find Megan Whalen Turner's modern day make-believe refreshing. Instead of Three Wishes (Greenwillow Books, $15, ages 8-12) is a collection of seven short stories that foray into magical wonders that touch ordinary people. There's the young girl on vacation on Ocracoke Island who magically swims into a painting to find a very special fur coat, and the painter in New Hampshire who discovers a leprechaun while painting mountain landscapes. Perhaps the most enchanting tale is about a young girl who offers to help a confused older gentleman cross a busy street. The man turns out to be an elf prince and he promptly offers the young girl the customary three wishes. When she can't decide on a wish, she allows him to select one for her. But her whims aren't so easily discerned. The prince, sent to marry her, is a bit of a bore. A golden coach with six black horses doesn't fit in the garage and a palace is much too showy for the neighborhood. It takes months of careful observation before the elf can finally fulfill a wish 20th-century style.

Turner may give her stories a modern spin but she doesn't sacrifice the quintessence of fairy tales. Though she stretches the parameters of "once upon a time" and "happily ever after," she still provides a setting where good triumphs over evil and valiant characters prevail. More importantly, Turner guarantees imaginations a vigorous work-out.

Kendal Rautzhan (syndicated columnist: Springfield, VA Fairfax Journal; El Paso, Texas Herald-Post; Sharon, Pennsylvania Herald, Topeka, Kansas Capital-Journal, etc.):

There are some who say leprechauns do exist. More people than not will tell you they don't. But Roger Otterly knows the truth, yet he chooses to reveal it in his own unique way.

Leroy Roachbane is a first-rate roach killer. His mother, who has an extreme dislike of the ugly, prehistoric bugs, depends on Leroy to make the big kill in the mornings in their pantry. On his way to school, Letroy has a mishap with his bicycle, which leaves him fighting off cockroaches in ancient Sweden, a place he has always wished to go. Was he really there, or was it his imagination (along with the bump on his head)? Selene is a girl with wishes of her own. She wishes that she and her infirm mother didn't have to scrape so hard to make ends meet, and she wishes that she could go to culinary school and immerse herself in her greatest love and talent: cooking. But Selene is too practical to spend her days wishing them away, so when she is approached by a prince elf who is obliged to repay Selene's kindness by offering her three wishes. Selene doesn't know how to respond.

These and several other short stories are compiled in this wonderful collection of everyday places and the unique and magical things that happen to people there. Each story has a surprise twist to it, leaving readers very delighted, most satisfied and thinking a little bit harder about their own dreams, desires, and wishes.

Association for Childhood Education International

The reader's imagination will be piqued by the magical events woven into this whimsical seven-story collection, which is filled with leprechauns, factories, kings, and wishes. Each story has a surprise twist ending that is exciting and inventive.

Susan Weitz, "Cool Weather Reading"

It's hard to believe that Instead of Three Wishes (Greenwillow) is Megan Whalen Turner's first book. These expertly-turned, witty and intelligent short stories - each with a hint or dollop of the supernatural - range from droll to eerie to thoughtful to deeply touching. I'm especially fond of the title story, which features a grumpy elf prince who finds himself unwillingly indebted to a down-to-earth teenager. And there's Leroy the city boy who is somehow transported to Viking-era Sweden, where he saves King Wiglaff from an infestation of roaches. A boy falls in love with a ghost, museum portraits come to life, and a king pretends to be a baker pretending to be a king. It's a superlative collection which should appeal to ages seven or eight up to, say, a hundred.

Deirdre B. Root, YA Services Kliatt:

Patricia C. Wrede, author of Dealing With Dragons.

A gem of a book - or rather, a string of gems. Every story shines, some with humor, and some with adventure, and all of them with magic.