I Wish You Would

Gr 10 Up–It is a week before the start of senior year, and class president Natalia Diaz-Price is busy planning and running the Senior Sunrise camp night. Also, her parents recently announced their divorce, and her mom has decided to move three hours away, so Natalia must decide if she’s staying or going with her mom. Ethan Forrester is Natalia’s best friend and secret crush. He recently discovered that his celebrity father cheated on his mom with a costar and has left the family. Ethan and Natalia have stopped speaking because they have not been able to communicate how they truly feel about each other. During one of the camp activities all the seniors are tasked with writing a wish on slips of paper and putting them in a jar that will be tossed in a bonfire at the end of the trip. Inadvertently, some of the slips escape from the jar and Natalia asks Ethan to help her find them. Told in dual point-of-view, the story takes place over one night and readers are able to see the internal conflicts for both Natalia and Ethan. This helps to see the arc both characters go through. Between chapters, Des Lauriers includes some of the students' wishes, so readers get a glimpse of other classmates’ lives. This friends-to-lovers story imparts lessons about the importance of communication for relationships.