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Reviewed by: Kathy Jaccarino, High School Librarian Title: Wish You Were Here Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 2021 Good for Grades: 10-12, Adult Genre/Type of Book: Realistic Fiction
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: None Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: A student, and fellow reader, recommended it.
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
“You can’t plan your life….Because then you have a plan. Not a life.”
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Review:
I would recommend this book. Jodi Picoult is a popular adult author who has many books that resonate with young adults. "My Sister's Keeper" was very popular in its day. "Wish You Were Here" is a story that takes place during Covid-19, one of the reviews called it a "pandemic drama." Maybe that will be a new genre!? Reading about our lives during that time was a bit surreal, I had an almost visceral reaction! The story follows Diana, an art seller who works for Sotheby's, and her boyfriend, Finn, who is a surgical resident. They live in NYC and are planning a getaway to the Galapagos Islands just before the pandemic shuts everything down in March of 2020. The story is told in two, alternative universes...one in which Diana gets on the plane to the islands alone, as Finn is needed at the hospital. She gets stranded on an island, with no luggage, no place to stay, very little WiFi, and with no Spanish skills. She is befriended by a furloughed hotel employee, her tour-guide son, and his daughter....14-year-old Beatriz. Beatriz is a troubled teen that connects with Diane, and who makes the story very relatable for YA readers. Picoult's descriptions of the island are vivid and detailed. As the story unfolds Diana's background unfolds, her close relationship with her father and struggling connections with her estranged mother, and she begins to question her life's plan. There is a serious plot twist mid-way through the story, that somehow works. Apparently, according to the author's notes, Picoult did her homework and there are plenty of facts to substantiate the twist that brings us to the other universe! Picoult explains that she wrote this book during the pandemic, and she certainly taps into the feelings and trauma of that time period.
I think this book would be a good choice for a literature circle that perhaps includes other titles (as they are published) about life during the pandemic. Or maybe life during other "traumatic" times through the decades, to compare and contrast how people deal with life-changing events.
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