Wish

Charlemagne Reese, who detests her royal-sounding name and prefers the simpler “Charlie,” is the protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel. Charlie struggles with her identity from the very beginning as she wrestles with how to describe herself on her new teacher’s “Get to Know Me” page. Having recently been separated from her family of origin and uprooted from her home in Raleigh to move to a new town with unfamiliar customs and people, Charlie is no longer sure who she is. For most of her life, she has defined herself by the similarities others see between her and her father, Scrappy, and Charlie falls victim to the notion that she is destined to make the same mistakes that her parents have made just because they are family. Although Charlie misses her family, especially her sister Jackie, circumstances force her into a crossroads where she must figure out who she is apart from her biological family. In addition to dealing with her difficult family situation, Charlie is prone to bouts of anger and sometimes lashes out at others. As she tries to find her place in the small town of Colby, Charlie feels like the deck is stacked against her in every way and that there is no hope for her to find happiness there.