Review by Booklist Review
Lately, 12-year-old trans boy Ollie Di Costa feels more like a demiboy, but he's only confessed this to his older sister, Mia. Between transphobic classmates and parents who constantly argue, Mia is the one person Ollie can count on. After a particularly bad day at school, the siblings go to the beach--their favorite escape--but on this occasion, Ollie gets sucked through the sand into an evil, backward place. There he encounters a two-tailed cat and an alarming figure desperate to capture the feline. Unwilling to leave the cat behind, Ollie clutches it tightly when Mia pulls him back through the sand. Christening the kitty Wishbone, the siblings discover the cat actually can grant wishes but that the magic comes with a heavy price. Winans (The Otherwoods, 2023) writes about trans identities with graceful care, showing readers that people can be supportive if given the chance, while also conveying a message of empowerment. They deliver a strong demiboy hero whose evolving sense of self adds depth to the scares, laughs, and adventures that fill the story.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Thirteen-year-old Ollie Di Costa wishes he had more friends. He also wishes he and his older sister Mia had a less tumultuous home life, and that he could find books starring "demiboys" like him. When he's sent home early from school following an altercation with a bully, an initially idyllic afternoon beach picnic with Mia becomes a real-life horror movie--thin, black vines appear from the sand and drag Ollie into an alternate world where birds and bugs fly backward. There, he encounters an injured cat with two tails that he determines to save. Boy and cat are approached by a terrifying man, but before the stranger can make good on his threats, Mia drags Ollie (and the feline) back through the sand portal. Upon returning home with their charge, which they name Wishbone, Ollie and Mia soon learn that their new pet can grant wishes. But there's a price--one that steadily increases--and paying it may be more trouble than their desires are worth. Winans (The Otherwoods) delivers a magical, high-octane adventure and a perceptive examination of queerness and fear in this empathetic novel. Through Ollie's confronting demons both mortal and paranormal, Winans highlights how queer kids move through the world and how tight-knit found family dynamics--and the support they bring--are integral to their growth. Characters are intersectionality diverse. Ages 8--12. Agent: Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
After rescuing a two-tailed cat, Ollie and his sister find their wishes coming true. Ollie Di Costa has already come out as transgender, but when Jake Barney, his old friend turned bully, publicly mocks his reading about demiboys, it kick-starts an awful afternoon, especially because popular Noah Choi witnesses the whole incident. Ollie and older sister Mia go to the beach (one place they escape their constantly fighting parents), and there, strange black vines drag Ollie beneath the sand into a world where everything's backward and smoke pours out of gray-skinned people's eyes. Ollie escapes after saving Wishbone, a two-tailed cat, and he and Mia soon realize that all their problems--lack of money, unrequited love, mean classmates--go away just by expressing their desires in front of Wishbone. But these wishes come with negative consequences for others. Mia wants to stop, but Ollie can't let go of his anger with the world. After isolating himself from the pain others cause him, Ollie must now discover his true friends before he finds himself cursed. Though some clunky elements disrupt the narrative, Ollie's journey from hurt and angry loner to someone who lets himself love and be loved by his friends is earned and earnest. Snappy humor, a genuine cast of characters, and sweet moments spent baking and hanging out with Wishbone and Noah, Ollie's crush, balance the queerphobia and familial strife. Ollie and Mia are white, and Noah is Korean American. A quirky magical romp with real depth.(Horror. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
