"This magical Middle Grade adventure pops with peril, pluck and ice cream!"
Packed with page-turning peril and the power of hope, Sarah Merrett’s A Place of a Thousand Wishes melds magic, mystery, friendship and courage to conjure a classic tale of good versus evil.
While Mason and his dad make marvellous ice cream, times are tough — production is tricky in their pre-refrigeration era (to say the least), and then a stranger creates a commotion that ruins his dad’s ice cream cart. Into this, the legendary Darlington the Miraculous comes to town — a man who claims to possess the power to grant wishes through floating them up, up and away in magical bubbles. Moreover, father and son receive an invitation to visit Darlington Manor. Though his dad refuses to go, believing Darlington to be a “shyster”, Mason makes his own way to the grand mansion, and meets the infectiously courageous Clem en route.
On arrival, Mason learns he has incredible connections to Darlington the Miraculous himself (they share the same remarkable gifts), and also discovers the identity of the sinister man who was responsible for ruining the ice cream cart. Then, when Darlington disappears, it falls to Mason to find him, with support from Clem, of course.
Alongside serving a feast of fast-paced adventure and family secrets, A Place of a Thousand Wishes is also a heart-warming story of daring to dream and the magic of friendship. While Mason’s deepest wish is for his life to be fun, Clem — an orphan who’s dodging the dreadful workhouse — is convinced there’s no point in wishing for anything: “I’m bottom of the pile. No hope for the likes of me”. Mason’s moving response to this pretty much sums up the overarching theme of this novel: “There’s always hope. You have to hope for good things. Dream of the life you want and then make it happen”. As such, A Place of a Thousand Wishes amounts to a charming mix of magic and the power of positive thinking.
| Suitable For: | |
| Other Genres: |
